The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, denounced the continuous “series of conspiracies” against Algeria to push it to deviate from the historical role it has played since independence in supporting the liberation movements in Africa and Asia until it became a role model for the developing world, by causing it trouble from inside or outside its borders.
Mr. Lamamra said in an interview published today, Monday, by Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, that Algeria “now feels that it is a state in confrontation with the Zionist entity, against which we used to send our forces to fight along with our Arab brothers, and now it’s present on our borders and signs military, security and intelligence agreements with the neighbor, brother and friend.”
He stressed that Algeria, despite its distance for years from the Arab and international scene, especially during the black decade, ” has returned to the path of effectiveness and regional and international influence, after the recent popular Hirak movement and the leadership assumed by men chosen through fair elections”
According to the minister, Morocco’s relationship with the Zionist entity and its impact on the issue of Western Sahara and the relationship of the Zionist entity with the Palestinian cause in light of Arab normalization “will draw the features of the new Arab world.”
He added, “If Algeria is besieged and its internal security is destabilized, those who embarked in normalization and those who are still waiting will be happy to remove the obstacle of Algeria, which rejects normalization by principle.”
He continued in the same context, saying: “From here we see that things are very accurate, and unlike what happened in 1975, that targeted the regime, now they are targeting Algeria as a nation, as national unity, sovereignty, national independence and territorial integrity. Now matters are more dangerous and we feel that an all-out war is being waged against us, and all the measures we have taken are defensive measures to preserve the security of our homeland.”
Lamamra pointed out that “the idea of using the Western Sahara issue to strengthen Morocco and weaken Algeria is still present, and the issue has returned again after the issues of terrorism and the popular movement in Algeria. This issue has been raised again, thinking that Algeria is busy with its internal situation.”
The minister added that Morocco was also “convinced that the United Nations succumbed to the dictates of France and the US in this regard and abandoned the idea of classifying the crisis as a decolonization matter, but rather as an issue related to local disputes that can be resolved by granting autonomy to the inhabitants of the Sahara, which is a dangerous setback in the United Nations’ most important principles which is granting independence to colonial peoples and lands, as stipulated in Resolution 1514 of 1960.
Algeria will not relinquish its principle of supporting the right of self-determination for the Palestinian and Sahrawi peoples.
The head of the Algerian diplomacy indicated that, “Morocco knows that it is unable to impose its vision in Western Sahara. There is still a steadfast fortress that is Algeria that supports the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination as well as the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”
The minister stressed that “it is not Algeria’s intention, neither now nor in the future, to abandon this principle, and that is why the plan to target Algeria has begun again as a priority because reality cannot be imposed on Western Sahara even with the recognition of Trump or others than Trump as long as Algeria stands with the Sahrawi people in their struggle for the right to self-determination.
In his interview, Mr. Lamamra pointed out that there is propaganda trying to distort the true image in Algeria, and there are those who have foreign lobbies in France and the US to tarnish the image of Algeria and brighten the image of Morocco.
The Algerian diplomacy chief underlined that “Algeria’s decisions to sever relations with Morocco and suspend the transit of gas through Morocco are decisions that benefit from the total support of the Algerian people because they know that Algeria is being targeted,” warning that “anything that affects Algeria and leads to its weakness will be reflected in the Palestinian and Sahrawi issues.”
In this regard, Mr. Lamamra revealed that Algeria will receive, before the end of the current year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to emphasize its historical positions in support of the Palestinian cause.
Regarding the holding of the Arab summit next March in Algeria, Mr. Lamamra said that “there are parties endeavoring to undermine the upcoming summit. If they fail, they will work to make the representation weak (…).”
However, Mr. Lamamra reiterated that, despite this, Algeria “has credibility with the Arab peoples much more than the promoters of the theory of each state that deals with its issues as it sees it, far from any collective coordination, as did the normalizing countries such as Morocco which put its interests above all considerations.”
Lamamra went on to say: “Algeria continue to reflect a balanced position for peace with Israel. We believe that reasonable peace at least must be based on the Arab Peace Initiative, the principle of land in exchange for peace, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Al Quds as its capital.”
Finally, Mr. Lamamra stressed that Algeria will not neglect Algeria’s memory, history and principles, “and we know that there is a price to pay, but this is Algeria’s destiny to remain faithful to its principles, history and the memory of its martyrs who made sacrifices so that their country remains free, sovereign, independent and a support for the oppressed.”
