Macron offers Algeria air and land resources to quell the fires

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday offered his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune air and land resources to fight the fires that have been raging in the northeast of the country for the past few days and which have caused around forty deaths.

In a telephone conversation between the two leaders, Macron offered his condolences to Tebboune and, through him, to all the Algerian people and to the families and relatives of the victims, the Elysée explained.

The dialogue served in particular to prepare for the French president's trip to Algeria from Thursday to Saturday next week, and Macron thanked his counterpart for the invitation to the visit.

According to the French presidency, the trip "will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship in a forward-looking manner for the benefit of the populations of the two countries". It will also serve to "reinforce cooperation" between Paris and Algiers in the face of "regional challenges" and to "continue the work of appeasing memories".

A reference to the continuous frictions on both sides of the Mediterranean between the former metropolis and its former colony over the stormy history before and after independence.

France has complicated relations with Algeria, and in recent times the most visible clashes, in addition to the classic ones over the interpretation of history, have been over Paris's desire to expel undocumented or convicted immigrants, in this case Algerians, to their countries of origin.

Paris has been unwilling to comment openly on Spain's change of position on Western Sahara - support for the idea of granting autonomy to the territory, but under Moroccan sovereignty - or on Algiers' reaction of breaking bridges with Madrid. However, it is public knowledge that the issue was raised in a conversation in June between the heads of French and Algerian diplomacy, Catherine Colonna and Ramtane Lamamra.