Algiers accuses its neighbor of deploying “Zionist intelligence agents” amid growing tensions between these rival Maghreb countries
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses Morocco of taking advantage of the visa exemption regime to deploy “Zionist intelligence agents […] and freely access the national territory” to carry out “various actions detrimental to the stability of Algeria.”
Algiers specifies that “these acts constitute a direct threat to the country’s national security”. It affirms that “the Kingdom of Morocco is held solely responsible for the current deterioration of bilateral relations through its hostile actions towards Algeria.”
Algiers severed diplomatic relations with Rabat in August 2021, denouncing a series of “hostile acts” by its neighbor, particularly concerning the disputed territory of Western Sahara, normalization with Israel as well as support for the separatists of the Kabylie Autonomy Movement (MAK), which Algiers has classified as a terrorist organization.
Morocco had deemed this decision “completely unjustified”, rejecting the accusations of the neighboring country.
Emboldened by the recognition by the American administration of its sovereignty over Western Sahara, in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since deployed offensive diplomacy to rally other countries to its positions.
Algiers’ decision on visas comes after the announcement on September 1 by the Tlemcen (west) prosecutor’s office of the arrest of several people, including four Moroccans, accused of being part of a “spy network” aimed at “undermining Algerian security and administrative institutions.”
Closed borders
The borders between the two countries have been closed since 1994.
Algiers stressed on Thursday that “the human and family ties that unite the two peoples” had until now avoided “calling into question the freedom and fluidity of the movement of people.”
Following the Algerian announcement, the semi-official website Maroc 360 wonders whether “will the Kingdom impose visas on Algerian citizens by reciprocity or will it oppose Algiers’ gesticulations with contempt?”
Western Sahara, located on the Atlantic coast and bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria, is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN in the absence of a definitive settlement.
With its rich mineral subsoil and fishing coasts, it is the only territory on the African continent whose post-colonial status remains in suspense.
Rabat, which controls nearly 80% of Western Sahara, is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front separatists, supported by Algeria, are demanding a self-determination referendum, planned by the UN when a ceasefire was signed in 1991, but never materialized.
After nearly 30 years of ceasefire, hostilities between the Polisario and Morocco resumed in mid-November 2020 following the deployment of Moroccan troops in a buffer zone in the far south of Western Sahara to dislodge separatists.
They blocked the only trade route to West Africa, arguing that it was an illegal road axis because it did not exist during the 1991 ceasefire.
