Saudi FM in Algiers to mend “strained” relations with Algeria
Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir started a working visit to Algeria on Wednesday, as part of the 3rdsession of the Algerian-Saudi Political Consultation Committee at the invitation of Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ramtane Lamamra.
The two ministers will examine “economic cooperation in the light of the outcomes of the 11thsession of the Algerian-Saudi Joint Commission, held in early December,” said a foreign affairs ministry statement.
“The discussions will focus on Arab and international political and economic issues of common concern, as well on the efforts to thrash out solutions to the conflicts besetting brotherly countries, in addition to the Palestinian cause”.
The Algerian-Saudi Political Consultation Committee was set up in 2008 and has held two sessions so far. The last session took place in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, in February 2014.
However, seasoned political analysts suggest that FM Al Jubeir’s visit comes against a backdrop of “simmering tension” in the Algerian-Saudi relations on account of diverging views between the two sides on several crises now unfolding in the region with on focus the conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
Since the onset of the Syria conflict, Algeria has not ceased to defend “the Syrian state” from the premise that the first and the last word will rest with the Syrian people, and this steadfast stance “isolated” Algeria in its dealings with the majority of the Arab regimes who have been seeking, since the 2013 Doha summit, the outright downfall of the Assad government by siding with the rebels and other belligerent opposition groups there.
Algeria has in this line consistently opposed Saudi Arabia’s questionable approach to the Syrian crisis by shunning any interference in Syria’s internal affairs or advocating the toppling by force of the Assad regime.
The second bone of contention between Algiers and Riyadh concerns the Yemeni conflict after Algeria’s refusal to join a Saudi-led coalition force against the Houthi insurgents in Yemen in line with the constitutional principle of the non-intervention of the ANP forces outside the national borders.
Algeria has in this connection always precluded the military option and advocated instead the recourse to dialogue and diplomatic moves to settle crises and conflicts.