Western Sahara Dispute Strains Algeria-Tunisia Relations, Ex-Officials Criticize Algiers

"The declining Algerian regime, politically and morally, sells illusions to the Polisario that it holds as hostages in the service of a fallacious political choice," accuses Moncef Marzouki, setting aside the idea of a "Sahrawi state" and blaming the Algerian regime for having committed an atrocity against its people and against the Maghreb Union, reports Maghreb-intelligence.

For his part, Ahmed Ounaies reproaches Algiers for the seizure of hundreds of kilometers of Tunisian Sahara, "a move also made against Morocco which is simply trying to defend the sovereignty of its territory, just as they were before colonization". He also accuses "the role of the Algerian regime in fueling a war against Morocco which, after facing these hostilities for 45 years, has opted for a new strategy", that of "establishing diplomatic relations with Tel-Aviv in exchange for Washington’s recognition of the Kingdom’s sovereignty over Western Sahara." A "surprising but courageous decision," he stressed.

These statements have upset the Algerian army, forcing the Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Othman Jerandi, to contact the Algerian ambassador, Azour Baalal, in order to clarify "the interest that the President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, has in Tunisian-Algerian relations", to ease tensions and reassure the Algerian neighbor.