The president of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebún, in a file image. HAYOUNG JEON (EFE)
The former Algerian ambassador to Spain Said Musi, whom Algeria withdrew from Madrid last March, after the Spanish government changed what had been an unshakeable state policy for 47 years regarding Western Sahara, has been appointed Algerian ambassador on Tuesday in Paris, according to the Africa Intelligence digital site.
Musi was called for consultations by the Algerian Government on March 19, one day after the Moroccan royal palace published the letter in which the Spanish president Pedro Sánchez affirmed that the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara is the most basic “ serious, realistic and credible” to reach a solution to the conflict.
Musi's new appointment implies, therefore, that he will not return to Madrid and thus portends that the diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Spain is going to last a long time.
Musi had little time to take Spain's pulse, as he was appointed in November 2021 and presented his credentials in Spain in January 2022. He was withdrawn in March.
He is a man of the full confidence of the Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtam Lamarra.
And both are considered very close to the Polisario Front.
The crisis with Algeria came to Spain at a time when it was most in need of Algerian gas, barely a month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Since then, Algeria has been reproducing the tactic that Morocco used in its day with respect to Spain, since former United States President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in December 2020.
From then on, Rabat began to demand from Spain "more audacity" in its policy regarding the Sahara.
And he opened a diplomatic crisis in which he did not take a single step back until he obtained from the Spanish government an unprecedented spin on the disputed colonial territory.
Now, Algeria uses a similar method, with no sign of easing the tension.
On June 8, Algeria suspended the treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation signed with Spain since 2002. That same day it announced the freezing of direct debits in operations coming from and destined for Spain.
The European Commission came out in defense of Spain, as a member state, and accused Algeria of violating the association treaty that the Maghreb country had signed with the European Union.
The Algerian government then issued a statement that seemed to reverse its intention to freeze trade with Spain, with the exception of gas.
But the reverse gear was only given on paper.
Because in practice Algeria continued to block trade with Spain.
There was a movement on June 14 by the Algerian president, Abdelmayid Tebún, which could have been misleading.
That day Tebún dismissed his finance minister, Abderramán Rauya, without specifying the reasons.
An Algerian analyst explained to this newspaper on condition of anonymity: “The minister has so far remained very discreet.
He hadn't done or said anything serious.
So it is possible that his dismissal is linked to the crisis with Spain”.
The reason why the minister was dismissed is still unknown.
But what is clear is that Algeria continued to freeze trade with Spain.
The Spanish Government opted in June to open a waiting period in the crisis with Algeria.
"We are going to give him one last chance, we are going to believe what his communications say," government sources told this newspaper.
But nothing changed.
Except that the former Algerian ambassador in Madrid is now the Algerian ambassador in France.
