Algeria Accuses Morocco of ‘Attempts to Hit National Economy’

On Jun 20, 2023

Nearly two years after severing ties with Morocco over unsubstantiated claims of a Moroccan plot to “sabotage Algerian democracy,” the Algerian government is once more making unfounded accusations against the North African country.

Local police, according to Algerian media, were instrumental in foiling a “criminal plan that was organized from Morocco.”

An Algerian police statement was cited by Echourrouk online as saying that “members of a criminal network attempted to offer counterfeit banknotes to circulate them in the market, on the eve of Eid Adha, in another attempt to hit the national economy.”

Such accusations come as no surprise to knowledgeable observers of the historically tense relations between Rabat and Algiers, given that the Algerian regime is well known for its obsession with Morocco and its well-documented propensity to jump to Morocco’s defense in an effort to deflect public anger and attention from its failed policies.

Many current and past Algerian officials have charged Morocco of being responsible for many of their nation’s problems, including “flooding” Algerian cities with drugs, for many years.

Ties between Morocco and Algeria have been intense for many years as Algeria’s regime continues to support and provide shelter to the Polisario Front, the separatist group claiming independence in southern Morocco.

In the Tindouf camps, where thousands of Sahrawis suffer in oppression and horrible conditions as a result of fund theft, malnutrition, and diseases, Algeria finances, supports, and houses the Polisario Front.

Particularly over the past three years, tensions between the two neighbors have risen, peaking in the summer of 2021 after Algeria accused Morocco of starting a wave of wildfires in the Kabylie region due to high temperatures.

Morocco denied the allegations and called them “unfounded fallacies.”

In a contentious interview given in December of the previous year, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune asserted that his government’s decision to sever all ties with Morocco was made to avert a direct military clash. “You must sever diplomatic ties to prevent a war,” President Tebboune warned.

He also falsely asserted that Morocco’s borders with his nation were blocked for 40 years “in response to constant aggressive acts by the neighbor…. The issues are being brought on by the Moroccan government, not the Moroccan people. We have excellent relations with 80,000 of its citizens who reside here.

Despite several Moroccan promises to engage in a sincere discussion with Algeria in order to resolve their political differences in a cordial manner for the sake of stability and development in the Maghreb area, Tebboune’s Algeria has persisted in making such unsubstantiated assertions.

To address the protracted political problem and strengthen the bonds of friendship and fraternity between Algerians and Moroccans, King Mohammed VI has specifically called for an open and direct discussion.

“We assure the Moroccan people of our firm will to find a way out of the current situation and to promote rapprochement, communication, and understanding,” the King stated in a speech last year in July.