Algeria party leader reiterates criticism of UAE role in region 

The head of Algeria’s National Construction Movement, Abdelkader Bengrina, has reiterated his criticism of the UAE role in the Maghreb and Sahel region and the tensions it causes for Algiers.

Speaking on the sidelines of the National Symposium for Future Cohesion and Security, Bengrina said the UAE has focused its role in the region on advocating for normalising ties with Israel and blackmailing many Arab countries after buying them off as a result of financial hardship.

“Wherever the UAE goes in any region, it creates tensions for the Algerian state, whether it’s through its movements inside Morocco, Niger and Mali, or the chaos that is taking place in Libya, or the ominous movements, as I said earlier, in Tunisia,” he said.

Last week, Bengrina, whose party is a member of the government coalition, warned that the UAE is dragging Tunisia to normalise ties with Israel.

At the time, he said the UAE has always been behind “sowing discord and division in the region” including the differences between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the exacerbation of the crisis in Yemen.

Remarking on his earlier statements on the “imminent” normalisation between Tunisia and Israel which sparked widespread controversy in Tunisia, Bengrina said he is confident that President Kais Saied will stand in the face of normalisation, but warned that Abu Dhabi will seek to create political sectarianism within Tunisia.

He called on Algeria to remain vigilant and stand beside Saied so no one can blackmail Tunis.

Tunisia: president explains stance on normalisation to Algerian counterpart