Morocco lamented on Tuesday Algeria’s “completely unjustified” decision to sever diplomatic ties, saying it was based on “false, even absurd pretexts.”
In a statement, its foreign ministry added however that the moved was “expected given the logic of escalation seen in recent weeks.”
The kingdom will remain a trusted and loyal partner to the Algerian people and will continue to work diligently and responsibly to develop peaceful and constructive ties in the Maghreb region.
Earlier on Tuesday, Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said his country has severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to “hostile actions”, following months of tensions.
“Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco from today,” Lamamra announced during a press conference.
“History has shown... Morocco has never stopped carrying out hostile actions against Algeria,” he added.
The rupture followed a review of bilateral relations announced by Algeria last week as it alleged its neighbor was complicit in deadly forest fires that ravaged the country’s north.
Lamamra accused Morocco’s leaders of “responsibility for repeated crises” and behavior that has “led to conflict instead of integration” in North Africa.
Late last month, Morocco’s King Mohamed VI deplored the tensions between the two countries, and invited Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune “to make wisdom prevail” and “to work in unison for the development of relations” between the two countries.
‘Provocation’
But Algeria’s forest fires, which broke out on August 9 amid a blistering heatwave, burned tens of thousands of hectares of forest and killed at least 90 people, including more than 30 soldiers, further stoking tensions.
While critics say Algerian authorities failed to prepare for the blazes, Tebboune declared most of the fires were of “criminal” origin.
Algerian authorities have blamed the independence movement of the mainly Berber region of Kabylie extending along the Mediterranean coast east of the capital.
Algiers has accused Rabat of backing the separatists.
“The Moroccan provocation reached its climax when a Moroccan delegate to the United Nations demanded the independence of the people of the Kabylie region,” Lamamra said Tuesday.
Last month, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Rabat for consultations after Morocco’s envoy to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, expressed support for self-determination in that region.
At the time, Algeria’s foreign ministry said Morocco thus “publicly and explicitly supports an alleged right to self-determination of the Kabylie people”.
Algerian authorities have also accused the Movement for Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) of involvement in lynching a man falsely accused of arson during the recent forest fires, an incident that sparked outrage.
Algeria last week accused Morocco of supporting the group, which it classifies as a “terrorist organization”.
