Former Moroccan PM Urges Algeria to Mend Ties with Morocco, Heed King’s Outreach

Abdelilah Benkirane is in favor of the warming of relations between Morocco and Algeria, which unilaterally cut ties with its neighbor in 2021. "Listen to me well, we need to be one nation, because it is imperative to achieve a rational unity from the Maghreb countries, and in particular between Morocco and Algeria... I tell you that His Majesty the King does not think of harming you in any way." This is how he addressed the Algerian leaders in a speech broadcast by his party on Thursday evening. "What is currently required is to unite, cooperate and think together about our future... We and our Algerian brothers are all in danger," he added, lamenting that the Algerian leaders have shifted the differences over the Sahara to the field of football, clothing and heritage. "What will you gain, for the killer and the killed will both be in hell, and on the contrary, it is the moment of unity," questions the Islamist leader, referring to the "distant alliances contrary to the religious dogma of the country," particularly the Algerian-Iranian rapprochement.

For Benkirane, "the time has come to seek points of rapprochement and cooperation between Morocco and Algeria in all fields, as much as possible, away from differences and conflicts." He therefore calls for reviving the ties of brotherhood and cooperation between the Maghreb countries with a sincere intention, and to cooperate in various fields, whether political, economic, military or intelligence. Morocco has moreover extended its hand to Algeria on several occasions. To support his argument, he revealed that "King Mohammed VI told him that no harm would come from Morocco to Algeria." The Secretary General of the PJD also recalled the great political position taken by Saaïd Amzazi, Wali of the Souss-Massa region, when he prohibited the holding of a preparatory meeting in Agadir for the creation of an organization supporting the secession of the Kabylie region from Algeria. "This decision is great, it warmed my heart... The Wali could not have taken this decision without authorization," he said.

For the relations between Rabat and Algiers to warm up, Benkirane expects the Algerian leaders to follow in the footsteps of the Moroccan officials by adopting "a logic of reconciliation".