Algeria Hosts Moroccan Separatist Group, Escalating Tensions with Rabat

Formed in Belgium in September 2023, the Rif National Party, described as a "separatist group" in Morocco, now has an office in Algeria. On Saturday, its official representation was inaugurated in the upscale neighborhoods of Algiers, in Poirson, in a villa belonging to the Algerian authorities. By welcoming this party on its soil, Algeria once again shows that it continues to support separatist groups. Its unwavering support for the Polisario, which has proclaimed a "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)" and demands a self-determination referendum, does not waver.

Algeria therefore supports the Rif National Party. The latter had moreover requested its support in the aftermath of its creation. "I ask Algeria to recognize the Republic of the Rif as soon as possible," declared Jaber El Ghadioui, the representative of the Rif hirak. On the web, he had added: "We want Algeria to open its training centers so that we can learn to handle weapons. We want Algeria to treat us like other liberation movements, old and new."

The reception by Algiers of the Rif national party is provoking reactions. This sponsorship is a "serious provocation", denounces the Algerian journalist in exile, Hichem Aboud on the Atalayar website. "Is it the imminent end of the Polisario that is prompting the hawks in Algiers to look for a replacement for this movement? Or is it a desire to push the Moroccans to recognize the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia [MAK, classified as a terrorist organization in Algeria] and thus prepare the ground for an escalation of tension between the two countries?" he wonders.