'A point of no return': Algerian president says W. Sahara, normalisation with Israel fuel crisis with Rabat

Algerian-Moroccan ties have reached "a point of no return" after over a year of no diplomatic contact, said Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Tuesday.

In an interview with the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, Tebboune said that while he regretted the deteriorating relations between Algeries and its neighbour, but blamed Rabat for the crisis.

"Our position is a response [to Morocco's actions], we were never the ones who started [the problem]," said Tebboune, who became president after the 2019 Hirak movement.

Algeria cut ties with Morocco in 2021, after accusing Rabat of being behind the wildfires that broke out in the Kabylia region.

Algeria's decision to break ties with Morocco came just a few days after Rabat had offered to send firefighter jets to help Algerian authorities in putting out the wildfires.   

Over the past year, Moroccan King Mohammed VI has repeatedly reiterated Rabat's openness to restoring ties with Algeria via 'honest talks.' Algeria never officially responded to those royal invitations.

Since their independence, the two North African countries have been locked in a bitter rivalry, mainly over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. 

Algiers backs the armed Polisario movement that seeks independence for Western Sahara, a territory Rabat claims as its own. It also hosts their self-proclaimed government in the region of Tindouf.

The Polisario separatists took up arms in the 1970s and have continued to demand an independence referendum on the basis of a 1991 deal that included a ceasefire.

In 2007, Rabat suggested an autonomy plan for the territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom. The UN backed the Moroccan plan, while the Polisario Front and Algeria rejected the autonomy option, continuing to demand independence.

In his interview, the Algerian President also blamed Madrid for its pro-Morocco policy shift on Western Sahara, saying, "The Spanish government had forgotten its role as a former colonial power in Western Sahara" and bears "responsibility towards resolving the issue."

Spain maintained a neutral position on the dispute ever since decolonising the territory in 1975. In March last year, Madrid reversed decades of neutrality by backing Morocco's autonomy proposal, describing it as the "most serious, realistic and credible basis" to end the long-running conflict.

Algeria responded to this switch in Spanish policy by recalling its ambassador from Madrid and then suspended a two-decades-old friendship treaty with Spain a few months later.

Algeria, which considers Western Sahara "the last colony in Africa," says its support for the Polisario Front is rooted in its own struggle against French colonisation.

In addition to the differences over Western Sahara, Morocco's normalisation with Israel has further fueled the frenemies' feud.

During the interview, Tebboune emphasised his country's support for Palestine, saying that Algeria viewed the issue "as akin to a domestic issue."

Algeria does not recognise Israel. Meanwhile, Morocco and Israel agreed to normalise relations in a deal in December 2020 under the auspices of the United States.

As part of the agreement, then-US President Donald Trump agreed to recognise Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Morocco has since demanded that Israel take that step before Rabat opens an embassy in Tel Aviv.

Despite the normalisation, the Moroccan kingdom continues to argue that Rabat’s support for the Palestinian cause is firm and persistent.