Diplomatic Tensions Persist Between Morocco and Algeria, Former Ambassador Warns

Algeria cut ties with Morocco on August 24, 2021. Since then, their relations have remained tense. The points of friction are notably the Sahara issue, the support that Morocco would have given to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK), etc. For Abdelaziz Rahabi, former Algerian ambassador to Madrid, the causes that led to this crisis are still present. He returns to the statements of the Moroccan representative to the United Nations Omar Hilale in July 2021 on the "secession" of Kabylia.

"An unprecedented, unacceptable and provocative declaration, and which directly touches on national unity, by calling a region dear to Algerians to secede from Algeria," he pointed out in an interview with Ennahar TV. Abdelaziz Rahabi said he had hoped for apologies from Morocco or the outright removal of the speech of its representative to the UN. "This did not happen, and for the past two or three weeks in New York, the same ambassador has repeated the same speech," said the Algerian diplomat. According to him, as long as the causes of the crisis are present, there is no chance that Morocco and Algeria will reconcile.