France does not want "war with Algeria" and it is Algeria that is "attacking" it, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Wednesday, in response to Algiers' refusal to take back its deportable nationals.

"We are not belligerent, we do not want war with Algeria. It is Algeria that is attacking us," Mr. Retailleau told Sud Radio.

"Algeria must not hesitate when it is convinced, with an identity document, a passport, that the national is Algerian. It must readmit him," insisted Mr. Retailleau.

In the midst of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, the minister called for "a graduated response" towards Algiers, arguing that "a series of measures could be taken."

The graduated response allows us to say "we are not the aggressor," he insisted.

"We began to implement it by suspending facilities for the Algerian nomenklatura," added the minister, referring to the "rejection of the 2007 agreements" which allow holders of diplomatic passports to not require a visa.

Algeria on Monday rejected the list of Algerians subject to deportation provided by Paris in recent days, reiterating its "categorically rejecting the threats, attempts at intimidation, injunctions and ultimatums" coming from France.

At the end of February, French Prime Minister François Bayrou threatened to "denounce" the 1968 agreement, which grants special status to Algerians in France, the former colonial power, in terms of movement, residence, and employment, if Algeria did not take back its illegal nationals within six weeks.

However, at the beginning of March, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to want to play the appeasement card by saying he was "in favour, not of denouncing, but of renegotiating" this agreement.

Asked about his threat to resign if the government renounced a power struggle with Algeria, Bruno Retailleau replied on Wednesday that "obviously", "if one day I came across an obstacle that could jeopardize the security of our compatriots, then I would have to ask myself questions."

Relations between France and Algeria have continued to deteriorate since President Emmanuel Macron's recognition last July of an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty proposed by Rabat for Western Sahara, a territory whose status has not been defined according to the UN.