Algeria announced Thursday the “immediate reestablishment” of a visa regime for “all foreigners holding a Moroccan passport”, accusing its neighbor of deploying “Zionist intelligence agents” against a backdrop of growing tensions between these countries rivals from the Maghreb.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses Morocco of taking advantage of the visa-free regime to deploy “Zionist intelligence agents […] and freely access the national territory” to carry out “various actions detrimental to the stability of Algeria”.
Algiers specifies that “these acts constitute a direct threat to national security” of the country and affirms that “the Kingdom of Morocco is held solely responsible for the current process of deterioration of bilateral relations through its hostile actions against Algeria”.
Algiers broke off diplomatic relations with Rabat in August 2021, denouncing a series of “hostile acts” by its neighbor, particularly concerning the contested territory of Western Sahara, normalization with Israel as well as support for the independence movement. of Kabylia (MAK) which Algiers has classified as a terrorist organization.
Morocco deemed this decision “completely unjustified”, rejecting the neighboring country’s accusations.
Emboldened by the recognition by the American administration of its sovereignty over Western Sahara, in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since deployed offensive diplomacy to rally other countries to its positions.
Algiers’ decision on visas comes after the announcement on 1er September by the public prosecutor’s office in Tlemcen (west) of the arrest of several people, including four Moroccans, accused of being part of “a spy network” with the aim of “undermining Algerian security and administrative institutions”.
Borders closed
The borders between the two countries have been closed since 1994.
Algiers underlined Thursday that “the human and family ties which unite the two peoples” had until now avoided “calling into question the freedom and fluidity of the movement of people”.
After the Algerian announcement, the semi-official site Maroc 360 wonders if “will the Kingdom reciprocally impose visas on Algerian citizens or show contempt for the gesticulations of Algiers? “.
Western Sahara, located on the Atlantic coast and bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria, is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN in the absence of a definitive settlement.
With its rich mining subsoil and its fish-rich coasts, it is the only territory on the African continent whose post-colonial status remains unresolved.
Rabat, which controls nearly 80% of Western Sahara, is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty, while the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, are demanding a self-determination referendum, planned by the UN during the signing of a ceasefire in 1991, but never materialized.
After nearly 30 years of ceasefire, hostilities between the Polisario and Morocco resumed in mid-November 2020 following the deployment of Moroccan troops in a buffer zone in the far south of Western Sahara to dislodge independentists.
They blocked the only commercial route to West Africa, arguing that it is an illegal road axis because it did not exist during the 1991 ceasefire.