Morocco orders ministers to freeze visits to Algeria

The Kingdom of Morocco canceled special agenda of official visits due to be paid to Algeria by its Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Aziz Akhenouch and Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Al Tawfiq, Echorouk has learnt.

This comes as the United States proposed that the U.N. peace-keeping mission in Western Sahara help monitor human rights there.

According to sources, Morocco notified its embassy in Algeria that the scheduled had been postponed to an indefinite date.

Those ministerial visits are diplomatically described as step-by-step policy to repair relations between the two countries.

Morocco’s decision to “boycott” Algeria seems an attempt to take revenge from it after US suggestion.

Two weeks ago, Moroccan Interior Minister attended a meeting between ministers of Western Mediterranean countries in Algiers and Algeria’s interior minister counterpart Dahou Ould Kablia attended on Sunday a meeting of interior ministers of the Maghreb region last Sunday. Yet, but the two visits are far to be in the context of bilateral relations.

The US decision was not accepted by the Royal palace in Morocco which responded by sending envoys to Moscow and Beijing and Paris, London and Washington.

Considering that Morocco can not face US administration, it is trying to direct “fire” toward Algeria, after suspending military cooperation with US as part of Africa Lion maneuvering exercises in 2013.

Moroccan’s dissatisfaction over the US decision is considered as a decisive turn in the path of the Sahrawi-Moroccan conflict. The Kingdom is trying to punish Algeria through its policy of boycott.