The relations between Algeria and Morocco have reached the point of no return. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said this in an interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
"We regret that relations between Algeria and Morocco, two neighboring countries, have reached this level," the head of state said, referring to the ongoing Algerian-Moroccan crisis.
"Relations between Algeria and Morocco have reached the point of no return, and our position is a reaction," the president pointed out.
In his late December 2022 interview with reporters, Tebboune said that Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021 in order to avoid starting a war with the kingdom. He then explained the severing of relations with "problems accumulated since 1963 and the aggression of Moroccan special forces to seize part of the territory in the far south of Algeria." "We broke off [relations with Morocco] in order not to go to war, and no country can mediate between us," Tebboune stressed.
"In the 60 years of [Algeria's] independence, the Algerian-Moroccan border has remained closed for 40 years in response to the neighbor's incessant hostile actions. But, look, it is the Moroccan regime, not the Moroccan people, that creates the problems. 80,000 [Moroccan] citizens live with us in perfect harmony," the president noted.
Relations between Algeria and Morocco have been extremely complicated for the past few decades. Observers cite the Western Sahara issue, on which the two neighboring countries hold opposing positions, as the main stumbling block. At the end of August 2021, Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing the kingdom of committing "continuous hostile acts."
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Based on materials from TASS