Algeria has officially removed its ambassador to Lebanon after a diplomatic scandal that reverberated from Beirut to Washington.
The Algerian regime published in its official gazette the decree confirming that Kamel Bouchama was dismissed retroactively to October 9 following remarks that shocked observers.
The controversy erupted on September 23 during a cultural conference in Beirut, where Bouchama launched into an improvised speech and described the US President Donald Trump as a “moron,” a “cowboy,” and someone fit for a psychiatric ward.
The comments, widely circulated online, drew criticism in Washington and embarrassment in Algiers.
The undiplomatic remarks were symptomatic of an Algerian foreign policy resembling a game of verbal roulette: loud, erratic, and allergic to restraint.
Officials tried to spin the insults as “personal opinions,” as if an ambassador stops representing his country when he picks up a microphone.
The episode highlights deeper issues in Algerian diplomacy including improvisation, lack of discipline, and a tendency to confuse provocation with strategy.
For Algeria, the damage goes beyond one man’s words. The Bouchama affair underscores a systemic problem of a foreign policy that often generates crises instead of managing them.
