Algerian president returns empty handed from Egypt

At first it was described as a working visit, but when Algeria’s President Abdelmedjid Tebboune landed in Cairo to meet his counterpart General Sisi, the trip was described as a private and friendship visit, from which he actually returned empty handed.

Algerian commentators said the visit was without an invitation and was at the request of Tebboune who is so desperate for a diplomatic victory after a series of setbacks on all fronts.

Garnering support for holding the Arab League summit was on top of Tebboune’s agenda. But Egypt showed little enthusiasm, echoing the view of the Arab league and key states in the Gulf who all supported the adjournment of the Arab summit sine die.

Algeria was hoping to use the Arab league summit to serve its pro-Separatist propaganda and punch above its weight by suggesting mediation between Palestinian factions, a diplomatic area which heavyweight Egypt will not relinquish to Algeria that easy.

Algeria, which has previously rejected any mediation in the conflict it has started with Morocco, is also perceived in Egypt as an unreliable mediator in the Nile dam conflict with Ethiopia.

Egyptian official and unofficial media have expressed on multiple occasions the rejection of the Sisi regime of Algeria’s mediation, because it is perceived as incompetent and biased.

Egypt, a state that has normal diplomatic ties with Israel, is also unwilling to follow Algeria’s antisemitic stands and its positions against Arab states that have established ties with Israel.

Egypt, a Western ally, is also following with great concern Algeria’s close ties with Iran and its Hezbollah proxies.

On the eve of the visit, media loyal to the military junta attacked the Egyptian diplomacy after Egypt’s ambassador to Rabat said Cairo backs Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara territory and supports the autonomy plan.

Blinded by a hostility to Moroccan integrity, the Algerian diplomacy has accumulated a series of diplomatic setbacks on the African, Arab and in the UN. The more Algeria’s diplomacy tries to corner Morocco, the more they entrench their own Isolation in the Arab region.

Following Tebboune’s visit, the GCC reaffirmed its stands in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara region, showing once more the scale of Algeria’s isolation within the Arab league.