Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has asserted that mediation between his country and Morocco was not possible and that severing relations with Rabat was the alternative to war.

In an interview with the French Le Figaro newspaper, Tebboune added that Algeria’s severing of its relations with Morocco resulted from accumulations since 1963.

The Algerian president affirmed that since Algeria’s independence, the border remained closed between the two countries for more than forty years: “As a reaction to the ongoing hostile actions of the neighbour.”

Tebboune added: “It is the Moroccan regime that creates problems, and the Moroccan people have nothing to do with it,” confirming that 80,000 Moroccans reside in Algeria.

“Of course… I applauded the Moroccan national team for honouring the Maghreb and Arab football in the World Cup because the Moroccan people also applauded us for winning the Africa Cup of Nations,” expressed Tebboune regarding the Moroccan national team’s participation in the World Cup.

Source: Middle East Monitor