No unified Maghrebin Union without opened borders between Algeria and Morocco

Algeria’s former foreign minister Lakhdar Ibrahimi Sunday called for reopening land borders between Algiers and Rabat. “Conflicts between the two countries remain a big obstacle to build a Maghrebin union. The Western Sahara issue should be left apart,” he said.

“Algeria and Morocco should leave conflicts apart and develop economic relations. Borders between the two countries should be opened. We can not talk about a united Arab Maghreb without opened borders between Algiers and Rabat,” Ibrahimi said in a lecture at the Police School in Algiers.

“More than a very important bilateral cooperation project was hindered between Algeria and Morocco. The two countries should copy Indochina’s model by overcoming conflicts,” he added.

He warned against a war between Shia and Sunni partisans in the Arab World, saying that it may reach the Maghreb.

“It started in Iraq than reached Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon. It may arrive to the Arab Maghreb and Algeria if this phenomenon is not ended,” he said.

He criticized the European Union regarding the Syrian refugees’ issue, saying 2 percent of them are living in Europe. 

“A small village in Lebanon received more than 20,000 Syrian refugees. Europe could not receive refugees. This shows that it experiences a real economic crisis. It started looking for another source to surmount its current situation such as wars,” he added.

Speaking about his position towards the so-called the Arab Spring, Ibrahimi said he supported it in its beginnings because “peoples called for peaceful change. Yet, I changed my position after organized groups had taken control of it to destroy and raising conflicts among people.”