Morocco-Algeria relations remain tense

Morocco-Algeria relations remain tense
Rabat's foreign minister has accused Algeria of failing to do enough to mend ties between the two countries.
2 min read
16 December, 2014
Algeria has supported the Polisario Front's fight for independence from Morocco [AFP]
Morocco's Foreign Minister Saleheddine Mezouar has attacked Algeria in a statement made in Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara under Moroccan control. Mezouar accused Algeria of showing animosity towards Morocco, rather than trying to move towards greater regional unity and security.

"Those who have learnt from the past will know Morocco is fearless," Mezouar said, directing his comments towards Algerian officials.

Morocco has "never been defeated", 
he argued - referring to the support Algeria and Libya have given the Polisario Front. This rebel national liberation movement has been
     Morocco has never been defeated, not even when its opponents have allied against it.
- Saleheddine Mezouar, foreign minister
fighting since 1975 to gain Western Sahara's independence from Morocco.

Mezouar criticised Algeria for wasting energy quarrelling instead of looking for solutions. He also accused it of not doing enough to solve the Western Sahara dispute.

He said Algeria's involvement in the Sahara issue was due to "illusions of grandeur that made it tyrannise its neighbours, and behave like a regional bully". Such illusions, he argued, "belonged to a bygone era".

Discussing regional unity, Mezouar said the Arab Magreb was the only region in the world not to have formed a union. This left it ill-equipped to address today's challenges.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.