France alarmed by disappearance of writer Sansal in Algeria

By Friday there had been no official reaction in Algeria to the French concerns.

Former prime minister Edouard Philippe said he was “profoundly worried… [Sansal] embodies all that we cherish. He stands for reason, freedom and humanism against the forces of censorship, corruption and Islamism”.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called him a “fighter for liberty and a courageous opponent of Islamism.”

The disappearance of Sansal, 75, was first reported by friends in Paris, who found that his mobile telephone had gone dead and were told that he had not arrived at his home in Boumerdès.

Among his supporters is the writer Kamel Daoud, another Franco-Algerian critic of the government in Algiers who earlier this month was awarded France’s top book award for a novel about the bloody Algerian civil war of the 1990s.

It was announced only this week that Daoud was being sued in Algeria for allegedly stealing his story from a survivor of the civil war, and for breaching a 2005 “reconciliation law” which restricts public comment on the conflict.

Saada Arbane said she had had several psychiatric sessions with Daoud’s future wife, Aicha Dahdouh. The BBC has approached Daoud for comment.