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Algeria Cuts Diplomatic Ties With the UAE

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Algeria has severed diplomatic relations with the UAE, citing hostile acts and giving the Emirati ambassador 48 hours to comply.

Algeria has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, its foreign ministry announced, blaming what it described as "provocative or hostile" acts by the Gulf state. The statement, carried by Algerian state media, said the country had reached the point where it could no longer tolerate the Emirati conduct.

The ministry summoned the UAE ambassador and informed him of the decision, telling him he had 48 hours to comply. It said Algeria had "exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations" before taking the step.

"Algeria spared no effort to draw the Emirati side and warned it of the dire consequences that could result from its regrettable and unjustified behaviour," the statement said. The ministry did not set out any specific incidents or grievances to explain the move.

There was no direct response from the UAE government. However, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, addressed the issue in a post on X. He did not name Algeria, but appeared to reject the manner in which the rupture had been handled.

"Diplomatic relations are managed through rationality, communication and clarity of interests," Gargash wrote. He added that ties are not built on "riddles and signals that require decoding," and that successful diplomacy rests on understanding and managing shared interests and differences.

"Ambiguity is not a policy, and noise does not compensate for the absence of vision," Gargash said.

Years of regional friction

Relations between the two countries have grown increasingly strained over recent years, driven by opposing positions on several regional questions. The two governments have found themselves on different sides of some of North Africa's most contentious disputes.

Algeria refuses to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel. The UAE, along with Algeria's neighbour and rival Morocco, established ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. That divide has been a persistent source of tension between Algiers and Abu Dhabi.

The Western Sahara divide

The two states are also at odds over Western Sahara, a territory at the centre of a decades-long dispute over sovereignty. The UAE backs Morocco's claim to the region.

Algeria, by contrast, supports the Polisario Front, an armed group that seeks an independent state in Western Sahara for the Sahrawi people. The competing alignments have deepened the rift, tying the Algeria-UAE relationship to the wider rivalry between Algeria and Morocco.

The severing of relations marks a sharp escalation in a dispute that has simmered for years without a formal break. With no detailed explanation from Algiers and no substantive reply from Abu Dhabi beyond Gargash's remarks, the specific trigger for the decision remains unstated.

Algeria UAE relations, diplomatic ties severed, Anwar Gargash, Western Sahara dispute, Abraham Accords, Polisario Front, Algeria foreign ministry, Morocco Algeria rivalry

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