Algeria’s Diplomatic Doctrine In The Face Of The Libyan Crisis
Conditions did not help, the new president of the country, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, after the sudden death of the Deputy Minister of National Defense, Chief of Staff of the National People’s Army, the late Major General, Ahmed Gaid Salah, and the Libyan crisis that added new troubles to the newcomer to El Mouradia Palace.
While Abdelmadjid Tebboune was preparing to announce his first government, the death of the chief of staff came to delay the process, and the developments of the Libyan crisis increased to open new old files, in a way that necessitated the convening of the Supreme Security Council, for the first time in nearly nine years.
The Supreme Security Council usually convenes, when the country’s security and stability are threatened, and for that, the meeting that was held on Thursday was closed, with urgent measures to protect the borders with Libya and Mali, but without indicating the nature of these measures.
The meeting was attended by the Major General Said Changriha, Acting Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Acting Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Sabri Boukadoum, Justice Minister, Belkacem Zeghmati, Interior Minister, Minister of Housing, Kamal Beldjoud, Director of the Presidential Office, Noureddine Ayadi, Director General of National Security, Khelifa Ounissi, and the Commander of the National Gendarmerie Forces, Abderrahmane Arar.
According to a statement that was issued by the Presidency of the Republic, “The Council studied the situation in the region and in particular on the Algerian borders with both Libya and Mali and decided in this context to take many measures to be taken to protect our national borders and territory, and the reactivation and revitalization of Algeria’s role at the international level, especially With these two files, in general in the Sahel and Sahara region and Africa.”
What arouses attention in the presidential statement, is the phrase that talks about “activating and revitalizing Algeria’s role at the international level”, a trend that had not previously been announced by any of the state institutions during the era of the former President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Is it the beginning of the retreat from the diplomatic doctrine of Algeria, which is based on distancing oneself from everything that happens outside the borders? Or that the nature of the circumstances and the specificity of the circumstance prompted the Algerian authorities to amend this doctrine to allow the protection of the country’s borders?
Bouteflika’s “gang” system, as some have described it, justified self-sufficiency despite the challenges that faced the country during his era, with the presence of an article in the constitution prohibiting the Algerian army from interfering outside the borders, which was the justification that was paid to confront the French insistence to participate in Mali war, and this position is acceptable to public opinion.
However, generalizing this position on different cases, including the Libyan crisis, has lost Algeria’s position as a regional power in North Africa and the Middle East, so that its silence led to the manipulation of neighbouring countries and other distant and small countries, and colonial France as well, to harm Algerian interests in the neighbouring country Libya, and it should not have been left alone.
It is known that the internationally recognized Libyan government, led by Fayez el-Sarraj, has not stopped asking Algeria to align with international legitimacy by supporting the recognized central government, since the retired general Khalifa Hafter, who holds US citizenship and who is supported by France, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, launched a military attack on the capital, Tripoli, for about eight months, taking advantage of the special circumstance that Algeria is going through, following the outbreak of the popular movement “Hirak” that led to overthrowing the former president’s regime.
The strongest Algerian position regarding the Libyan crisis is that which was issued by the Foreign Minister, Sabri Bookaduom, after Haftar troops’ attack on Tripoli, as he called for an immediate end to the war in Tripoli: “We do not accept that a capital is bombed in a country of the Maghreb while we are silent.”
The statement of the Presidency of the Republic after the meeting of the Supreme Security Council suggests that there is a new trend for Algeria, especially in dealing with the Libyan crisis, after the latter became a stage for mercenaries and a playground for foreign powers with narrow interest accounts at the expense of the Libyan people and the stability of its neighbours.
The Supreme Security Council usually convenes, when the country’s security and stability are threatened, and for that, the meeting that was held on Thursday was closed, with urgent measures to protect the borders with Libya and Mali, but without indicating the nature of these measures.
The meeting was attended by the Major General Said Changriha, Acting Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Acting Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Sabri Boukadoum, Justice Minister, Belkacem Zeghmati, Interior Minister, Minister of Housing, Kamal Beldjoud, Director of the Presidential Office, Noureddine Ayadi, Director General of National Security, Khelifa Ounissi, and the Commander of the National Gendarmerie Forces, Abderrahmane Arar.
According to a statement that was issued by the Presidency of the Republic, “The Council studied the situation in the region and in particular on the Algerian borders with both Libya and Mali and decided in this context to take many measures to be taken to protect our national borders and territory, and the reactivation and revitalization of Algeria’s role at the international level, especially With these two files, in general in the Sahel and Sahara region and Africa.”
What arouses attention in the presidential statement, is the phrase that talks about “activating and revitalizing Algeria’s role at the international level”, a trend that had not previously been announced by any of the state institutions during the era of the former President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Is it the beginning of the retreat from the diplomatic doctrine of Algeria, which is based on distancing oneself from everything that happens outside the borders? Or that the nature of the circumstances and the specificity of the circumstance prompted the Algerian authorities to amend this doctrine to allow the protection of the country’s borders?
Bouteflika’s “gang” system, as some have described it, justified self-sufficiency despite the challenges that faced the country during his era, with the presence of an article in the constitution prohibiting the Algerian army from interfering outside the borders, which was the justification that was paid to confront the French insistence to participate in Mali war, and this position is acceptable to public opinion.
However, generalizing this position on different cases, including the Libyan crisis, has lost Algeria’s position as a regional power in North Africa and the Middle East, so that its silence led to the manipulation of neighbouring countries and other distant and small countries, and colonial France as well, to harm Algerian interests in the neighbouring country Libya, and it should not have been left alone.
It is known that the internationally recognized Libyan government, led by Fayez el-Sarraj, has not stopped asking Algeria to align with international legitimacy by supporting the recognized central government, since the retired general Khalifa Hafter, who holds US citizenship and who is supported by France, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, launched a military attack on the capital, Tripoli, for about eight months, taking advantage of the special circumstance that Algeria is going through, following the outbreak of the popular movement “Hirak” that led to overthrowing the former president’s regime.
The strongest Algerian position regarding the Libyan crisis is that which was issued by the Foreign Minister, Sabri Bookaduom, after Haftar troops’ attack on Tripoli, as he called for an immediate end to the war in Tripoli: “We do not accept that a capital is bombed in a country of the Maghreb while we are silent.”
The statement of the Presidency of the Republic after the meeting of the Supreme Security Council suggests that there is a new trend for Algeria, especially in dealing with the Libyan crisis, after the latter became a stage for mercenaries and a playground for foreign powers with narrow interest accounts at the expense of the Libyan people and the stability of its neighbours.