The breakdown of diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco, a new stage in a long escalation – archyworldys

The rupture of diplomatic relations between Algiers and Rabat, announced on Tuesday August 24 by the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, did not really surprise in Algeria so many grievances against the neighboring country have accumulated in recent months.

This rupture was in the air: Algeria had announced, on August 19, a review of its relations with the Morocco. To the question of Western Sahara, which permanently poisons relations between the two countries, new disputes have been grafted which have increased tensions. The most serious, in Algiers’ eyes, was played out at a meeting of the non-aligned movement in New York on July 13 and 14, when Moroccan Ambassador Omar Hilale distributed a note claiming that the “Valiant Kabyle people deserve, more than any other, to fully enjoy their right to self-determination”.

These remarks aroused the fury of the Algerian authorities, but also of the opposition, the implicit parallel made by the representative of Morocco between Kabylia and Western Sahara being judged “Fallacious”. Former communications minister Abdelaziz Rahabi denounced a call for “Sedition”, a “Hostile action”, and called the “People and the state” to react with “Strength and firmness”.

The exit of the Moroccan ambassador took the Algerian political class by surprise, which sees it as an unprecedented slippage in a relationship already marked by tough exchanges. Many believe that Morocco feels emboldened by the formalization of its alliance with Israel following a normalization of relations between the two countries, the counterpart of which has been the recognition on December 10, 2020 by former US President Donald Trump of the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara.

Israeli dimension

On July 16, the Algerian authorities officially denounced a “Dangerous drift” and declared to wait “A clarification of the final position of the Kingdom of Morocco”. The declarations of King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the Feast of the Throne, July 31, ensuring that Algeria did not have to fear “Malice on the part of Morocco”, did not constitute, in the eyes of Algiers, the expected corrective: a clear disavowal of the words of the ambassador.

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