Morocco hopeful for dialogue with Algeria in bid to renew ties

Relations have soured since Algiers cut diplomatic ties in 2021

The Algerian flag flies on the border with Morocco, near Oujda. EPA

Morocco has said it hopes for a renewed dialogue with Algeria more than two years after Algiers cut off diplomatic ties with Rabat.

Relations between the two nations soured after Algeria accused Morocco of “hostile acts” after a string of diplomatic incidents and the collapse of a 30-year ceasefire in the Sahara, a point of tension between the two countries.

Morocco's UN representative, Omar Hilale, said Rabat wants discussions with Algeria over disagreements regarding the Sahara region at the annual seminar of the UN Committee of 24.

“To those who support the UN political process and the [Secretary General's] personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, I reaffirm Morocco's resolute commitment to this process in order to achieve a realistic, pragmatic, lasting solution to the regional dispute, in accordance with Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2654,” Mr Hilale said.

“This dispute will be settled when Algeria returns to the table, in accordance with resolution 2654, and with full respect for Morocco’s territorial integrity,” he added.

Morocco administers about 80 per cent of the 266,000 square kilometres of the sparsely populated desert region, with the remainder held by the Algerian-supported self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a breakaway state, which is not recognised by the UN.

Rabat's sovereignty over the region is supported by a number of Arab states as well as African nations and the US.

Land borders between Algeria and Morocco have been shut since the early 1990s over security concerns.

Earlier this year, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI invited Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for talks in Rabat to end the tensions after he did not attend the first Arab League summit in three years after it was hosted by Algeria last November.