New Delhi, Nov. 19 -- A French-Algerian novelist who was granted a humanitarian pardon last week in Algeria after a yearlong imprisonment returned to France on Tuesday and was received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace, Macron's office said.

Boualem Sansal, 76, was released last week after Algeria 's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune granted him a humanitarian pardon in response to a German request. Sansal, who has cancer, first went to Berlin, where he received medical treatment. His attorney says his health has been deteriorating.

Macron expressed his gratitude in a statement "to all those who contributed to making that day possible," especially German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, "whose good offices we...