The United States has extended until this Monday the confidential talks held in Madrid between Morocco, Algeria , Mauritania and the Polisario Front. Washington is increasing the pressure to obtain a framework agreement on the Sahara within three months.
The security services of Mohammed-V Airport in Casablanca carried out a sting operation this Saturday, arresting an Algerian national involved in a drug case . The man, who was about to board a flight to Algiers, was caught by the control devices as he tried to conceal drugs in his body.
Algerian food products are experiencing huge success in Morocco despite persistent tensions between Rabat and Algiers.
Algeria and the Polisario Front have reported armed clashes in the Tindouf camps, suggesting that Algiers could withdraw its support for the independence movement fighting for the self-determination of the Sahara.
Rabat has not yet reacted to Algiers’ "immediate restoration" of a visa regime for "all foreigners holding a Moroccan passport." Algeria accuses Morocco of taking advantage of the visa exemption regime to deploy "Zionist intelligence agents [...] and freely access the national territory" to carry out "various harmful actions" to its "stability."
France’s recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara has led to the closure of the Moroccan stand at the Olympic Games by the mayor of Île-Saint-Denis, Mohamed Gnabaly, an official of Senegalese origin, married to an Algerian and known to be very close to the Algerian ambassador, Said Moussi, recently recalled by Algiers after Paris’ decision. The Moroccan consulate in Villemomble has reacted to this sudden decision.
Despite the rejection by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) of its appeals against Morocco, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) is not giving up. It has filed a request with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne to invalidate the result of the Confederation Cup semi-final between the Moroccan club Renaissance de Berkane and the Union Sportive de la Médina d’Alger, and suspend the final.
In responding to the allegations of a Medi 1 journalist about Algerian wheat production during the ceremony commemorating Student Day at the Sidi Abdallah technology hub, west of Algiers, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune showed self-deprecation.
No Algerian public channel broadcast the return match of the African qualifiers for the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup between Morocco and Algeria, which took place on Friday at the Salem Mabrouki Stadium in Algiers and resulted in a crushing victory (4-0) for the Lionesses of the Atlas.
Political interference in African football is costing Algeria dearly. The Confederation of African Football (CAF ) has imposed heavy sanctions on it due to the cancellation of the first leg of the Confederation Cup semi-finals between the Moroccan club Renaissance de Berkane and the Union Sportive de la Médina d’Alger, on Sunday, April 21, 2024, because of the jersey of the Atlas Lions containing a map of the kingdom integrating the Sahara. Other sanctions will certainly be taken in the coming days.
The second leg of the CAF Cup semi-final between RS Berkane and USM Alger promises to be electric. Victorious by default (3-0) in the first leg following the seizure of its jerseys by the Algerian authorities, the Moroccan team is awaiting its Algerian opponent this Sunday (8:00 p.m.). However, the shadow of a new forfeit hangs over the match.
The diplomatic tug-of-war between Rabat and Algiers has shifted to the sports field with the cancellation of the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals between the Moroccan club Renaissance de Berkane and the Union Sportive de la Médina d’Alger, on Sunday, April 21, 2024, due to the jersey of the Atlas Lions containing a map of the kingdom integrating the Sahara.