Algeria’s Tebboune checks on health of Morocco monarch 

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his relief on Thursday for the success of the heart surgery that Moroccan King Mohammed VI has undergone.

This came in a message sent by Tebboune to the Moroccan king that was posted on the presidency’s official Facebook page, occurring in conjunction with political and diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

“Your majesty, the king and dear brother, I learned with immense relief and assurance the news of the successful progress of your surgical operation. I can, on this occasion, only thank God, Almighty, for His grace, begging him to grant you speedy recovery and to protect you from all harm,” Tebboune wrote.

On Monday, Moroccan authorities announced that King Mohammed VI had undergone a successful heart operation in the clinic of the Royal Palace in Rabat.

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During recent weeks, political and diplomatic tensions between Algeria and Morocco have renewed, due to a statement made by Moroccan consul, Ahadran Boutahe, who described Algeria as an “enemy country”.

Last May, social media platforms and Algerian media circulated a video showing a meeting allegedly held by the Moroccan consul in Oran (northwest Algeria), with members of the Moroccan community in front of the consulate headquarters in the city.

While calling on his fellow Moroccan citizens to leave Algeria, the consul justified his request by asserting: “You know that we are in an enemy country.”

For decades, Algerian-Moroccan relations have been tense due to the border closure since 1994, and the dispute over the Western Sahara between Rabat and the Polisario Front.