Morocco Government Disavowed Statements By Its PM On The Border With Algeria

Prime Minister Saadedine El Othmani’s recent statement on neighboring Algeria did not reflect the government’s official position (..), Moroccan government’s spokesman Mustapha Al Khalfi said.

This response came after statements to Morocco News Agency (MNA) by Mustapha Al Khalfi on El Othmani’s statements on Wednesday, that he hoped the first decision by the new Algerian authority would be to “open borders” (with his country).

Algeria has closed its land border with Morocco since 1994 after Rabat blamed it for terrorist attacks on tourists in the city of Marrakesh and announced a pre-entry visa on Algerians.

Mustapha Al Khalfi said Othmani did not make any official statement about neighbor Algeria and did not express any position of the Moroccan government.

“Othmani did not make any appeal, but expressed his wish to open the border between the two countries in a special talk on the sidelines of a breakfast table.”

Othmani said on Wednesday, in statements to local media, “Logic says that the first decision to be taken by Algeria’s new governance team is to open the border with Morocco.”

The spokesman added that “Algeria new government will at least find solutions with us, and will not follow the behavior of fierce competition with Morocco”, while there was no official response by Algeria on these statements.

Algeria is witnessing a popular movement for months forcing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled the country for 20 years, to resign on April 2 while the country is in a transitional period to prepare for the presidential elections for July 4.

Commenting on the events in Algeria, Morocco Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, said on March 16, that his country “decided not to intervene or comment on the events that are taking place in Algeria.”