Algeria Cuts Diplomatic Ties With ‘Hostile’ Morocco

Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said Tuesday that his
country has severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to
“hostile actions”, following months of resurgent tensions between
the North African rivals.

The countries have long accused one another of backing
opposition movements as proxies, with Algeria’s support for
separatists in the disputed region of Western Sahara a particular
bone of contention for Morocco.

“Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the
Kingdom of Morocco from today,” Lamamra announced during a press
conference.

“History has shown… Morocco has never stopped carrying out
hostile actions against Algeria,” he added.

In a statement later Tuesday, Morocco’s foreign ministry said
Algiers’ move was “completely unjustified” but “expected given the
logic of escalation seen in recent weeks”.

Rabat added that the decision to cut ties was based on “false,
even absurd pretexts”.

The rupture followed a review of bilateral relations announced
by Algeria last week as it alleged its neighbour was complicit in
deadly forest fires that ravaged the country’s north.

Lamamra accused Morocco’s leaders of “responsibility for
repeated crises” and behaviour that has “led to conflict instead of
integration” in North Africa.

Late last month, Morocco’s King Mohamed VI deplored the tensions
between the two countries, and invited Algeria’s President
Abdelmadjid Tebboune “to make wisdom prevail” and “to work in
unison for the development of relations” between the two
countries.

– ‘Provocation’ –

But Algeria’s forest fires, which broke out on August 9 amid a
blistering heatwave, burned tens of thousands of hectares of forest
and killed at least 90 people, including more than 30 soldiers,
further stoking tensions.

While critics say Algerian authorities failed to prepare for the
blazes, Tebboune declared most of the fires were of “criminal”
origin.

Algerian authorities have blamed the independence movement of
the mainly Berber region of Kabylie extending along the
Mediterranean coast east of the capital.

Algiers has accused Rabat of backing the separatists.

“The Moroccan provocation reached its climax when a Moroccan
delegate to the United Nations demanded the independence of the
people of the Kabylie region,” Lamamra said Tuesday.

Last month, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Rabat for
consultations after Morocco’s envoy to the United Nations, Omar
Hilale, expressed support for self-determination in that
region.

At the time, Algeria’s foreign ministry said Morocco thus
“publicly and explicitly supports an alleged right to
self-determination of the Kabylie people”.

Algerian authorities have also accused the Movement for
Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) of involvement in lynching a
man falsely accused of arson during the recent forest fires, an
incident that sparked outrage.

Algeria last week accused Morocco of supporting the group, which
it classifies as a “terrorist organisation”.

– ‘Bad decision’ –

“The incessant hostile acts carried out by Morocco against
Algeria have necessitated the review of relations between the two
countries,” the presidency had said.

It also said there would be an “intensification of security
controls on the western borders” with Morocco.

The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since
1994.

Mohamed, a Moroccan bus driver, called Algeria’s latest move “a
bad decision”.

“It’s like cutting ties with your next-door neighbour,” he told
AFP.

The two North African countries along with Tunisia were united,
he added, saying “there are no differences, this happens between
governments”.

Algeria’s foreign minister also accused Morocco of leading “a
media war… against Algeria, its people and its leaders”.

But Lamamra also said consular assistance to citizens of both
countries would not be affected.

Relations between Algiers and Rabat have been fraught in past
decades, especially over the flashpoint issue of the disputed
Western Sahara.

Morocco considers the former Spanish colony an integral part of
its kingdom, but Algeria has backed the Polisario movement which
seeks independence there.

A normalisation deal between Morocco and Israel in December
triggered fresh tensions between Rabat and Algiers because the US
recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of the
accord.

Lamamra on Tuesday accused the Israeli foreign minister of
“senseless accusations and veiled threats” after Yair Lapid
expressed “worries about the role played by Algeria in the
region”.

On his first visit to Morocco since the countries normalised
ties, Lapid said his concerns were based on fears Algeria was
“getting close to Iran”, as well as “the campaign it waged against
the admission of Israel as an observer member of the African
Union”. AFP

Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said Tuesday that his
country has severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to
“hostile actions”, following months of resurgent tensions between
the North African rivals.

The countries have long accused one another of backing
opposition movements as proxies, with Algeria’s support for
separatists in the disputed region of Western Sahara a particular
bone of contention for Morocco.

“Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the
Kingdom of Morocco from today,” Lamamra announced during a press
conference.

“History has shown… Morocco has never stopped carrying out
hostile actions against Algeria,” he added.

In a statement later Tuesday, Morocco’s foreign ministry said
Algiers’ move was “completely unjustified” but “expected given the
logic of escalation seen in recent weeks”.

Rabat added that the decision to cut ties was based on “false,
even absurd pretexts”.

The rupture followed a review of bilateral relations announced
by Algeria last week as it alleged its neighbour was complicit in
deadly forest fires that ravaged the country’s north.

Lamamra accused Morocco’s leaders of “responsibility for
repeated crises” and behaviour that has “led to conflict instead of
integration” in North Africa.

Late last month, Morocco’s King Mohamed VI deplored the tensions
between the two countries, and invited Algeria’s President
Abdelmadjid Tebboune “to make wisdom prevail” and “to work in
unison for the development of relations” between the two
countries.

– ‘Provocation’ –

But Algeria’s forest fires, which broke out on August 9 amid a
blistering heatwave, burned tens of thousands of hectares of forest
and killed at least 90 people, including more than 30 soldiers,
further stoking tensions.

While critics say Algerian authorities failed to prepare for the
blazes, Tebboune declared most of the fires were of “criminal”
origin.

Algerian authorities have blamed the independence movement of
the mainly Berber region of Kabylie extending along the
Mediterranean coast east of the capital.

Algiers has accused Rabat of backing the separatists.

“The Moroccan provocation reached its climax when a Moroccan
delegate to the United Nations demanded the independence of the
people of the Kabylie region,” Lamamra said Tuesday.

Last month, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Rabat for
consultations after Morocco’s envoy to the United Nations, Omar
Hilale, expressed support for self-determination in that
region.

At the time, Algeria’s foreign ministry said Morocco thus
“publicly and explicitly supports an alleged right to
self-determination of the Kabylie people”.

Algerian authorities have also accused the Movement for
Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) of involvement in lynching a
man falsely accused of arson during the recent forest fires, an
incident that sparked outrage.

Algeria last week accused Morocco of supporting the group, which
it classifies as a “terrorist organisation”.

– ‘Bad decision’ –

“The incessant hostile acts carried out by Morocco against
Algeria have necessitated the review of relations between the two
countries,” the presidency had said.

It also said there would be an “intensification of security
controls on the western borders” with Morocco.

The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since
1994.

Mohamed, a Moroccan bus driver, called Algeria’s latest move “a
bad decision”.

“It’s like cutting ties with your next-door neighbour,” he told
AFP.

The two North African countries along with Tunisia were united,
he added, saying “there are no differences, this happens between
governments”.

Algeria’s foreign minister also accused Morocco of leading “a
media war… against Algeria, its people and its leaders”.

But Lamamra also said consular assistance to citizens of both
countries would not be affected.

Relations between Algiers and Rabat have been fraught in past
decades, especially over the flashpoint issue of the disputed
Western Sahara.

Morocco considers the former Spanish colony an integral part of
its kingdom, but Algeria has backed the Polisario movement which
seeks independence there.

A normalisation deal between Morocco and Israel in December
triggered fresh tensions between Rabat and Algiers because the US
recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of the
accord.

Lamamra on Tuesday accused the Israeli foreign minister of
“senseless accusations and veiled threats” after Yair Lapid
expressed “worries about the role played by Algeria in the
region”.

On his first visit to Morocco since the countries normalised
ties, Lapid said his concerns were based on fears Algeria was
“getting close to Iran”, as well as “the campaign it waged against
the admission of Israel as an observer member of the African
Union”. AFP