Ahmed Attaf, the foreign minister of Algeria, was in the United States for a two-day visit when he had a disagreement with Antony Blinken, his American counterpart, about the Sahara.

Even though Blinken declared that he fully supported the UN’s political process, Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had claimed that both ministers supported attempts to get the opposing sides to participate in the process without conditions.

On Wednesday, August 9, Attaf met with his American counterpart, Blinken. The conversation centered on the “partnership with Algeria and consultations on common priorities,” such as the stability of the Sahel region and peace initiatives in Ukraine.

In a press release from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was stated that Blinken and Attaf “discussed the latest developments of the Western Sahara question and reiterated their support for the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, to make it possible for the two conflicting parties to take the United Nations-led political process seriously and without conditions.”

The US State Department swiftly contrasted this by issuing a press release in which it reiterated the ministers’ support for Staffan de Mistura’s negotiations with all parties involved, including Algeria, “to reach a political solution for Western Sahara,” without making any mention of conditions.

Met with Algerian Foreign Minister @AhmedAttaf_Dz to discuss the U.S.-Algeria partnership and consult on shared priorities, including stability in the Sahel and a just and durable peace in Ukraine. We also affirmed our full support for the UN political process for Western Sahara.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 9, 2023

The two sides talked about regional developments, focusing in particular on the situations in Niger, Mali, and Libya. They underlined the coherence of their individual stances and their efforts to seek diplomatic solutions to these issues in order to spare the area the dangers involved with the armed course of action.

The two ministers also spoke about the developments surrounding the Palestinian issue in light of the blocked chances for the political process to resume.

Read also: Algeria Accuses Morocco of ‘Attempts to Hit National Economy’

The post US disputes Algerian assertions over the Sahara at high-level discussions appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

Ramtane Lamamra was replaced as Foreign Minister by a new candidate on Thursday by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who also reformed the government.

According to the President of the Republic, Ahmed Attaf, who is 69 years old, has taken over the ministry that Mr. Lamamra, 71, had previously led between 1996 and 1999. Mr. Lamamra had been in office since June 2021 following a first tenure between 2013 and 2017 as the head of Algerian diplomacy.

Intense tensions between Algeria and Morocco, particularly in relation to the Sahara dispute, have led to the appointment of a new head of diplomacy in Algeria.

Since Spain, the former colonial government, withdrew in 1975, Morocco and the Polisario front—which is backed by Algeria—have been at odds over the Sahara. While Rabat encourages autonomy under its sovereignty, Polisario asks for a self-determination referendum to be held under the auspices of the UN.

The absence of Mr. Lamamra during Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy significant ,’s two-day visit to Algiers on March 12 and 13 was questioned on Monday by the publication Le Matin d’Algérie. Yet, it was up to him—this is Lamamra—to greet him. Le Matin recounted that people in Algiers speculated about the minister’s potential “health difficulties,” “disgrace,” or disagreements with President Tebboune.

The newspaper remembered Mr. Lamamra’s initiatives to “restore some sparkle to a lifeless diplomacy bequeathed from (Abdelaziz) Bouteflika,” the former Algerian leader who ruled the country for 20 years before stepping down in April 2019 under pressure from the pro-democracy movement Hirak. Abderrahmane Hamad also takes over for Abderezak Sebgag in the Ministry of Youth and Sport and for former Labor Minister Youcef Cherfa in the Ministry of Transport.

Read Also: Morocco Dismantles in Vienna Algerian slanderer, producer and initiator of multiple drug trafficking networks

The post New Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs appointed as part of a shuffle appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.