President Tebboune, a facade of an Algeria in disarray

Algeria’s civilian facade, President Abdelmedjid Tebboune, gave a new interview to Le Figaro in which he sought in vain to redefine the standards of diplomatic engagement by describing his regime’s unilateral decision to sever ties with Rabat as a decision to avert war.

In diplomatic norms, breaking diplomatic ties and terminating all communication channels is a prelude to the declaration of war.

In 2021, as Morocco received support of most Africa and major powers including the US for its territorial integrity, Algeria instigated its Polisario proxies to breach the 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire. It afterwards accused Morocco without offering evidence with all the woes from the Kabylie wildfires to backing opposition groups, before it decided to break ties and stop the flow of gas through a pipeline that was also serving Spain.

Algeria, then, banned all Moroccan civilian and military aircrafts from crossing its airspace and indulged in a heinous anti-Moroccan campaign on its media and in diplomatic forums that drew mockery from the international public opinion.

For example, when Morocco was making headlines in the World Cup, Algerian media shunned mentioning Morocco’s unparalleled run.

Lacking arguments for its one-sided and self-destructive moves against Morocco, Algerian president is left with irrational explanations that further discredit him as a president whose strings are pulled by a ruthless military regime blinded by hate for its western neighbor.