Algeria’s is breaking diplomatic ties with Morocco “starting today,” amid growing hostility between the North African neighbours, a statement from the country’s president says.
The statement was read by Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra on behalf of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a press conference on Tuesday.
It came nearly a week after President Tebboune told a security council meeting that “incessant hostile acts” by Morocco raised “the need for a revision in relations between the two countries and the intensification of security checks at the western borders” with Morocco, the official APS new agency reported.
The move follows a period of growing tension between the neighbours which are mired in a long-standing feud with their borders closed to each other.
Matters deteriorated further in recent weeks with Morocco’s UN ambassador saying the people of Algeria’s Kabyle region should have the right to determine their future status.
That recalls Algeria’s support for Polisario guerrillas’ bid for self-determination in the disputed Western Sahara, annexed by Morocco in 1975. Morocco wants autonomy for the region.
Algeria, in turn, claims that Morocco backs a separatist group in the Berber region of Kabyle that it has placed on a terrorist list.
