The Algerian Defense Staff uses the latest issue of its magazine to defuse diplomatic tensions after the first military parade for independence in 33 years.
The Algerian National People’s Army (ANP), which plays an important role in Algeria’s domestic and foreign policy, sought to defuse recent tensions with neighboring Morocco in the editorial of the latest issue of its monthly magazine, El Djeich.
After the show of force of the first military parade for the independence of Algeria in 33 years, at the beginning of July, the staff of Defense, led by Saïd Chengriha, seems to accept the hand extended by the Moroccan monarch, Mohammed VI, in his last speech on the feast of the throne.
Previous messages from Chengriha hinted that tensions between the two countries could escalate in the near future. Rumors about the stationing of S-350 missile systems in the northwest of the country did not help, nor did the official confirmation of Desert Shield maneuvers with Russia just 50 km from the Moroccan border. The parade of the 60th anniversary of the French colonial power, with a parade of S-300 systems, raised the tone of discord. Morocco and Algeria have been going through a difficult period in their relations since the breakdown of official talks nearly a year ago, followed by the non-renewal of Morocco’s concession to transport gas through the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline. However, Chengriha’s latest gesture calls for calm, both inside and outside Algeria.
The magazine’s August issue is preceded by a message signed by the editor, Major-General Mabrouk Saba, who says the Independence Day parade “carried a message to the Algerian people, first to reassure him, but also outside to demonstrate that the sophisticated equipment with which our army is equipped is intended exclusively for the defense of the homeland, as recalled by General Saïd Chengriha, Head of State- Major of the National People’s Army”.
According to international observers quoted by several North African media, these statements from the Algerian military leadership could mean the end of the military blockade of diplomatic relations with neighboring Morocco. They coincide with the words of King Mohammed VI during Throne Day when he invited the Algerian government to “work towards the establishment of normal relations between two brotherly peoples, united by historical ties and a common destiny”.
According to an analysis by the American think tank Carnegie Center, in 2018 the Algerian military regained the political power that former President Bouteflika had taken away from them at the twilight of the civil war of the 1990s. Since then, with the reforms of the former leader General Staff Ahmed Gaïd Salah, who transferred the intelligence services to the armed forces, the presidency and the political forces do not have the necessary tools to counter the influence of the military.
According to the same sources, it is often the military themselves who strain diplomatic relations with Morocco. Various sources quoted by the daily Jeune Afrique have always described General Chengriha as a fervent anti-Moroccan, from the start of his military career to the present day.
It remains to be hoped that this change of course on the part of the Algerian military leadership will materialize in a clear intention to resume diplomatic relations with Morocco and put an end to the situation of military escalation which is pushing for the successive purchase of weapons by two countries that see their defense budgets increase every year and block the possibilities of collaboration and economic cooperation for the development of a key region of the Mediterranean basin.
