Tensions between Algeria and Morocco at Arab League

Algeria rejected calls for Morocco’s return to the African Union to be hailed in the Arab League on Sunday, a diplomatic source said.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League Nadir Arbaoui refused the proposal of his Moroccan counterpart to enlist hailing Morocco’s return to the African Union to the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Arab League prime ministers.

The diplomat told the Anadolu Agency that a verbal skirmish erupted between the two representatives that resulted in ending the meeting and raised the issue to the prime ministers themselves.

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In January, the African Union officially accepted Morocco’s return after three decades of its withdrawal as it protested against the union’s acceptance of the membership of the Polisario group, which calls for separating the Western Sahara from Morocco.

The issue of the Western Sahara has led to increased tensions between Algeria and Morocco since the middle of the 1990s.