Algerian diplomacy’s inconsistencies reach absurd level

The civilian façade of the military regime in Algeria or the government led by Tebboune has reached an absurd level doubling down on inconsistencies, inflated figures, and fake news. The most recent was Algeria’s foreign minister welcoming the US position on the Sahara issue.

Algeria’s newly appointed foreign minister, Ahmed Attaf, has welcomed the US stand on the Sahara issue saying Washington under Biden does not recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory.

He said, in an interview with Al Monitor during his Washington visit, the US support for the UN efforts to settle the conflict meant there was no recognition for the sovereignty of Morocco over the territory.

Not only is his interpretation or wishful thinking erroneous but it is also unethical. A sovereign state does not speak on behalf of another sovereign state!

Attaf must have a brain like a sieve since he failed to remember the content of the US presidential proclamation of 2020 recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara which also included US support for the autonomy initiative and the UN efforts to settle the regional dispute.

Someone should also recall to Attaf that following Israel’s recognition of the Sahara as a Moroccan territory, the spokesman for the US State Department welcomed the decision which he said his country has taken in 2020 and remains in place!

Algerian opposition figures in exile, including Anouar Malek, explained that Attaf was severely rebuked by Anthony Blenken after Algeria offered to act as Moscow’s proxy in the region. Needless to mention, Tebboune’s clumsy praise of Putin and Algiers willingness to break away with the US Dollar as well as its plan to spend $10 billion on Russian armament.

Attaf also seemed to have forgotten that the US is the penholder of UN Security Council resolutions that consider the autonomy option, proposed by Morocco, a credible and serious solution and calls on all parties including Algeria to engage in good faith towards finding a mutually acceptable solution.

The same resolutions were vehemently opposed by the Algerian regime which previously announced its non-participation in the UN-convened round table process on the Sahara.

The inconsistencies of the Algerian diplomacies add to the repetitive resort to inflated figures and fake news by the Algerian president who suddenly gave his country a growth rate of 20% claiming the country’s GDP reached $225 billion last year, whereas the World Bank puts the figure at $190 bln thanks to higher gas prices.