By Jana Choukeir
Sept 10 (Reuters) – Algeria abruptly severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing what it described as a series of “provocative or hostile” actions by Abu Dhabi but giving no specific reason for the move.
Shortly after Algeria’s announcement, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said on X that diplomatic relations should be based on “rationality, communication and clarity of interests”, rather than “riddles and signals that require decoding”.
Relations between the two countries have come under growing strain in recent years, with Algerian media outlets sharply criticising the UAE and accusing it of seeking to sow regional discord.
The Algerian foreign ministry said the UAE’s actions had reached a point where they could no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable and that it had “exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations.”
Gargash, who did not explicitly mention Algeria or link his comments to its decision, said successful diplomacy depended on clear positions and the effective management of interests and disagreements.
The UAE ambassador was summoned to the ministry, informed of the decision and given 48 hours to comply, the foreign ministry said.
Algeria and the UAE have taken differing positions on several regional issues. Algeria opposes normalisation with Israel, while the UAE and Algeria’s regional rival Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.
The two countries are also on opposing sides of the decades-old Western Sahara dispute. The UAE supports Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the territory where it has a consulate, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front, which seeks an independent Western Sahara.
The two countries’ interests have increasingly intersected in the Sahel, where the UAE has expanded ties with several governments in recent years, while Algeria’s relations with some of its southern neighbours have become strained following a series of military coups.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid said last year his country’s relations with all Gulf states were warm except for one — a thinly veiled reference to the UAE.
He described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as “brotherly”, while accusing the unnamed country of meddling in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilise it.
In February, Algeria began the process of cancelling an air services agreement with the UAE that was signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir; Editing by Peter Graff, Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell)
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