Rabat – Qatar has signaled its readiness to work towards ending the political stalemate between Algeria and Morocco.
The website Al Quds Al Aarabi reported on Tuesday that Qatar made this announcement while answering a question on whether a recent exchange of messages between Morocco, Qatar and Algeria was part of Doha’s efforts to mend the fractious relationship between Rabat and Algiers.
The question was referring to the news that Majed Al-Ansari, an advisor to Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs recently announced that the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hammad Al Thani, had received a message from President Abelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria on bilateral ties between the two countries.
Commenting on the news, a reporter from Al Quds Al Arabi asked the Qatari advisor whether the messages that the Qatari leadership received from Algiers and Rabat contained anything on Doha’s potential role in mediating between the two countries.
As fostering Arab solidarity is part and parcel of Qatar’s foreign policy, Al Ansari stressed in his response, Qatar would be eager to play a leading role in mediating between Algeria and Morocco should it receive a request in that regard.
Stressing the importance of peace and consensus in regional matters, the Qatari top official said that “there is no doubt that amending the rift among siblings is a top priority for the State of Qatar.” But he emphasized that Tebboune’s message only addressed the bilateral ties between Doha and Algiers.
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Algeria cut ties with Morocco in 2021, with the country’s regime vaguely accusing Rabat of undermining Algerian national security and sabotaging Algerian interests. Algiers announced its decision to sever ties mere weeks after misleadingly blaming Morocco for the wildfires that had devastated the Kabylie region days prior.
Morocco described Algeria’s announcement as an unfortunate “unilateral decision,” rejecting and denouncing the “ unfounded” and “fallacious” reasons the Algerian regime gave for freezing relations with Morocco. Even as it took issue with the Algerian government’s “unjustified” decision, however, Morocco stressed its commitment to always remain a credible and loyal partner to Algerians.
Most recently, King Mohammed VI, reiterated Morocco’s stance in his Throne Day speech on July 29. In particular, the Moroccan monarch reassured Algerians as well as the Algerian leadership that “no evil will ever be done to them, nor will any harm ever come to them from Morocco.”
It remains to be seen whether the Algerian regime, which is eager to use tensions with Morocco as nationalist rallying cry in times of crisis and has historically considered Morocco as an existential threat to its hegemonic aspirations in the Maghreb, will favorably respond to Qatar’s mediation initiative.
