PARIS (Reuters) - Algerian authorities have expelled Agence France-Presse’s bureau chief from the country, the French news agency said on Tuesday, as the North African country is rocked by weeks of protests against its government.

“This decision taken under the presidency of Mr Bouteflika is unacceptable,” AFP Chief Executive Fabrice Fries said in a statement. “In these conditions, it is out of the question for us to immediately name a new Algiers chief.”

Aymeric Vincenot, who was AFP’s Algiers bureau chief since June 2017, has seen his visa extension request turned down by Algerian officials and returned to Paris on Tuesday, an editor at the agency in Paris told Reuters.