Algeria’s Tebboune Proposes Maghreb Consultation Framework Amid Regional Tensions

Addressing the initiative for a North African consultation framework, seen by some as a relaunch of the Arab Maghreb Union without Morocco, Tebboune was keen to clarify that this project "is not intended against any country." "To begin with, we have undertaken to organize meetings, without excluding anyone. We will try to unite and coordinate on certain subjects. There is an agreement to create an entity, not against one of the UMA (Arab Maghreb Union) countries," the Algerian president said during a meeting with the national press broadcast on Algerian television on Saturday.

"The door remains open to our neighbors to the West, they have made other choices without consulting us," said President Tebboune, alluding to Morocco’s desire to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). "They are free, but we believe that there are certain issues that interest us together, especially since our problems are almost the same," he added. On the "Moroccanness" of the Sahara, recognized by certain Arab countries, the Algerian president refrained from any comment.

The Sahrawi issue is a "just cause," it is a "decolonization issue" and "it will find its solution," Tebboune asserted, assuring that this position "is not intended against our Moroccan brothers." "If we opt for the path of reason instead of threat and force, we will reach a solution."

Regarding his relations with the United Arab Emirates, Abdelmadjid Tebboune recalled that Algeria "has never indulged in verbal violence towards them. We still consider them as brothers, we pray to God to bring them back to the right path, especially since we are in the month of Ramadan... Their actions are not logical," the Algerian president said, stressing that Algeria "never bends," that its word is "respected." Algeria wishes "peaceful coexistence with all nations," but "its patience has limits," he warned.