Rabat – Algeria’s security services have arrested Mohamed Lamine Belghit following his controversial remarks regarding the Amazigh during an interview with Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabiya.
Last week, Algerian regime-affiliated media TSA said Algerian judiciary reacted with “great speed” following Lamine Belghit’s statements, saying that the Amazigh identity was merely a “Zionist-French ideological fabrication.”
Incredulously, he further claimed Amazigh people were actually “ancient Arabs of Phoenician origin.”
He appeared before a judge on May 3, facing charges of attacking the symbols of the nation and country, infringing on national unity, and spreading hate speech and discrimination.
The remarks triggered Algeria’s regime’s anger not only towards Sky News Arabia, but at UAE as a whole.
Following the remarks, Algeria’s state broadcaster issued a report, describing the interview as a “dangerous escalation from the artificial Emirati state.”
For the broadcaster, UAE crossed all “red lines regarding the unity and identity of the Algerian people,” and they accused the Gulf country of lacking “roots and genuine sovereignty.”
“Media incitement affecting Algerian identity will not pass without moral and popular accountability.” Algeria would “return the insult a hundredfold,” the news agency added.
A history of tensions
This is not the first time Algeria’s regime has lashed out at the UAE.
Last year, tensions escalated between the two countries when Algiers accused Abu Dhabi of partnering with Morocco and Israel to destabilize the Sahel region and undermine Algerian interests in the Western Sahara dispute.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune authorized Louisa Hanoune, leader of the Workers’ Party, to hold a press conference in which she accused the UAE of attempting to infiltrate Algeria’s state institutions and “pushing for war in the region” for the benefit of Israel.
Hanoune claimed that the UAE is “collecting money to arm Morocco” and using investments in Algeria as a cover to further its alleged conspiracy.
“The UAE is dangerous, a threat to the stability of Algeria,” the report quoted Hanoune arguing. She went on to suggest that Emirati-owned companies in Algeria, such as the National Company of Tobacco and Matches (SNTA), should “be nationalized to reduce the UAE’s presence in the Algerian economy.”
The accusations against Morocco and the UAE come as Algeria’s regime has long refused to cooperate in security measures aimed at tackling terrorism and other emerging crises in the Sahel, which has long been seen as a fertile ground for organized crime networks.
The accusations are also part of Algeria’s regime’s interference in the domestic affairs of other states, including Morocco.
Algeria’s continual interference
For decades, Algeria’s regime has been harboring the Polisario Front, a separatist group that challenges Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
In addition to offering a shelter in a deserted area called Tindouf, the Algerian regime arms, finances, and trains the separatist group, which continues to send malicious threats targeting Morocco’s security.
The latest terrorism threats were made last week, when members of the Polisario leadership warned foreign investors and tourists visiting southern provinces. The separatist group members said foreign investors and tourists are in “real danger,” threatening those living in Morocco’s southern provinces not to work with foreigners.
“Let the Sahrawi stay away from foreigners and not come telling us they’re civilians or innocent. This is not a tourism context, but a wartime context,” one of the separatist members said.
The threats came as international politicians, including MPs, have been calling on their countries, particularly the US, France, and the UK, to designate Polisario as a terrorist group undermining the region’s stability and security.
