Rabat – The Algerian regime renewed its persistent hostility towards the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco.
A video circulated on social media showed the establishment of a representative office which the Algerian regime dubbed as “the Rif Republic” for “separatist activists” from Morocco.
The video showed members of the “Rif National Council” and affiliates of the Rif National Party, along with a speech on the occasion “about the struggle of the Rif region,” which included “raising the flag of the Rif Republic to the tune of the Rif national anthem.”
According to reports by i24news, Algeria funded the establishment of the “Rif Nationalist Party” in Brussels to harm Morocco.
The announcement of the formation of this party in the Belgian capital in September 2023 “gathered some members of the separatist blackmail networks, especially from the members of the September 18 Movement for the Independence of the Rif in Morocco” as revealed by Moroccan newspaper “Assabah” and quoted by I24News.
In a written speech, Yuba El Ghadioui, a “Rif leader,” claimed that the “main objectives” of this office’s work “will be manifested, as a committee emanating from the Rif National Council, in strengthening the historical relationship that unites the Rif and Algerian peoples, based on coordination and harmony of ideas and goals for the good of the two brotherly peoples and the region as a whole,” according to I24News.
El Ghadioui added that “the establishment of the Rif representation in Algeria comes as an acknowledgment from us of the historical and social relations, as well as the denominators of blood, race and land, that bind the Rif and Algerian peoples.”
This move by Algeria reflects the country’s deep seated hostility and provocation against Morocco’s territorial integrity. This comes amid already heightened tensions between the two countries.
Algeria supports the Polisario Front, a separatist group claiming independence in the Western Sahara.
For decades, Algeria has been hosting the Polisario Front in Tindouf camps, providing them with financial support as well as military training.
Last January, the Movement for the Independence of the Kabylie Region in Algeria (MAK) and the Provisional Government of Kabylie in Exile (ANAVAD) denounced the duplicity and contradiction with which the Algerian state deals with the principle of “self-determination” and its public declaration to exploit the platform of the United Nations Security Council to destabilize neighboring countries.
In this context, Ferhat Mehenni, leader of the MAK and president of the Provisional Government of Kabylie in Exile, said, “Algeria does not believe at all in the right of peoples to self-determination. If it were otherwise, it would have recognized it first for Kabylie and the Kabyle people.” He emphasized that “this principle is used by Algeria to destabilize the countries with which it competes, nothing more and nothing less.”
Taj Eddine Houssaini, a professor of law and international relations at Mohammed V University in Rabat, described the announcement of the self-established “Rif Republic” office in Algeria as a “serious and unjustified escalation” targeting Morocco.
In statements to “Arabi21,” Houssaini said, “This is an escalatory and reckless step, and the Algerian regime has nothing left but to declare war against Morocco. What does this announcement mean at a time when the Arab world is in dire need of unity in support of the Palestinians?”
Former Algerian diplomat Mohamed Larbi Zitout, based in London, described the move to announce the opening of a representative office for the “Rif Republic” in Algeria as “a crazy and reckless step.”
In statements to “Arabi21,” Zitout said, “The separatist card is harmful to both countries and is more like a destructive bomb.”
Zitout pointed out that “this step not only confirms the weakness and isolation of the ruling gang in Algeria but also testifies to the failure of relying on the policy of security eradication that the gang uses with all those who differ with it in opinion within Algeria. Today, it is repeating its use in its international relations, as it does not seek to resolve external disputes by consensus.”
As tensions continue to simmer, this latest provocative step by Algeria seems likely to only further strain the already fraught relations between the two countries.
