France accuses Algerian official of orchestrating high-profile kidnapping

France has issued an international arrest warrant for Salaheddine Selloum, a former diplomat at the Algerian embassy in Paris, accusing him of involvement in the 2024 kidnapping of Algerian opposition YouTuber Amir Boukhors, known as Amir DZ.

Selloum served as first secretary at the embassy from 2021 to 2024 and is alleged to have participated in a “terrorist criminal association” linked to the preparation of serious crimes, according to French judicial sources, quoted by the French press.

Amir DZ was abducted near his home in Val-de-Marne on April 29, 2024, by men posing as police officers. He was forcibly taken to an isolated site, drugged, and held captive for 27 hours before being released near a forest. Investigations revealed that Selloum’s official diplomatic role was a cover for activities as an operative of Algeria’s external security services.

Phone data placed him near the YouTuber’s known locations in the weeks leading up to the kidnapping, indicating reconnaissance missions.

The investigation, accelerated in February 2025 by France’s anti-terrorism prosecution office and security services, uncovered close contacts between Selloum and a group involved in the operation, including an Algerian consulate agent in Créteil arrested earlier in April. This arrest reignited tensions between France and Algeria, occurring shortly after a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to Algiers had eased relations.

Algeria retaliated by expelling 12 French diplomats, prompting reciprocal expulsions by France and the recall of its ambassador, who has yet to return.

The kidnapping case has further destabilised Franco-Algerian ties, already strained since France’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and the arrest of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in Algiers.

Selloum left France the day Amir DZ was released, and the issuance of the international warrant is expected to exacerbate the already fraught diplomatic climate between the two countries.

By Tamilla Hasanova