To avoid the criticism levelled at his predecessor, Xavier Driencourt, the new French ambassador in Algiers, François Gouyette, is said to have received confidential instructions from the Elysée Palace forbidding him to receive or meet representatives of the Hirak, the popular protest movement demanding regime change in Algeria.
According to our sources, the Elysée also demanded a change of diplomatic personnel in Algiers, imposing in particular on the new ambassador the arrival of a new political adviser, in the person of Souhire Medini, who has a double advantage: a perfect Arabic speaker, she also has strong diplomatic connections in Africa.