In an interview with local media, the Algerian president responded to the King of Morocco's predisposition to build "fraternal relations" between the two countries

Tebboune: “Marruecos no está aportando respuestas al problema actual”

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On the occasion of Throne Day, Morocco's King Mohammed VI made a speech in which diplomacy was the undisputed protagonist. In this sense, his rapprochement towards neighbouring Algeria and his desire to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries was evident in a statement in which he expressed the desire to "work together, in the nearest term that I deem appropriate, to develop fraternity in the relations that our peoples have built through years of common struggle". To these declarations, the Moroccan king added that "the current state of these relations does not satisfy us, is not in the interests of our peoples, and is not acceptable to many countries".

Along with this, Mohamed VI extended his hand to Algeria and expressed his intention to "keep the borders open, it is the normal situation between two countries. Two neighbours and two brotherly peoples", alluding to the closure of borders between the two countries since 1994, after a terrorist group of alleged Algerian nationality committed a terrorist act in the Atlas Hasni hotel in Marrakech. 

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In response to these statements, Algeria had remained silent. However, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has broken the country's silence after he stated in an interview with local media that "Morocco is not providing answers to the current situational problem".

Tebboune expressed that "there was no response to the current problem we are experiencing now", referring to the Moroccan position on the independence movement of the Kabyle tribes that the Moroccan ambassador, Omar Hilale, issued at the UN after declaring Rabat's support for the "right to self-determination of the Kabyle people". In this respect, the Algerian president affirmed that "there is a Moroccan diplomat who made a very dangerous declaration, after which we withdrew our ambassador in Rabat, but we did not get a reply". Moreover, the member of the Algerian National Assembly, Qureshi Abdelkarim added that these declarations added an "insult to the wound" between Morocco and Algeria, since "it is contrary to what is proposed on the question of Western Sahara". 

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On the other hand, on the question of Western Sahara, Tebboune added that "they can solve the problem, and we are ready to receive them in Algeria if Morocco and the Polisario Front want to meet. They are welcome and we hope to resolve this conflict", and expressed that "they must resolve their problems themselves, and we will do our utmost to do so". He stressed that "nothing will be imposed on the Polisario".

Regarding Algeria's role as mediator in the crisis of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam between Egypt and Sudan on the one hand, and Ethiopia on the other, Tebboune exclaimed that it was a "100% Algerian initiative", stressing that "the three countries agreed to this mediation". 

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"We intervened in the Renaissance dam crisis so that they would not reach a crisis that would lead them to burning issues", and stressed that "the three countries have the right to their concerns, but we must resort to logic and reason to reach an agreement between them".

Regarding the role of Algeria and Morocco in the war in Libya as a conflict in which the rivalry between the two countries has become evident in an aspect of increasing their influence in order to strengthen their role as possible mediators in the war, Tebboune emphasised that "Algeria has no ambitions in the territory, and they know that we support them in all circumstances", pointing out that his country "has become a partner (...) and we demand that legitimacy is through substance". "The United Nations decided that elections will be held before the end of the year. There is acceptance of the principle of elections despite some doubts, whether in Tripoli or Benghazi," he said. 

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He also referred to the foreign forces on Libyan soil and asked: "Will they withdraw or not? He also pointed out that Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra will be in contact with "the Americans, the French and the Turks" and with "the Russian foreign minister" in order to find solutions that satisfy the Libyan people.

Tebboune also referred to the current crisis in Tunisia, affirming that Algeria "will not interfere in Tunisia's internal affairs, just as we do not want anyone to interfere in our affairs". However, he said that "Algeria is with Tunisia through thick and thin".

To this, the president added that "there will be an internal solution and its affairs will remain internal. God is with Kais Saied and with Tunisia (...) the Tunisian is intelligent and can find a solution to this crisis". 
 

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