King Mohammed VI called on Algeria to open borders with Morocco, saying open borders would aid the two countries deal with migration, smuggling, drugs and human trafficking.
“I call upon His Excellency the Algerian President for us to work together, as soon as he sees fit, so as to promote the fraternal relations built by our peoples through years of common struggle,” the King said during a speech commemorating his 22nd year on the Throne.
The call comes as new tensions surfaced recently with Algeria when the Polisario leader Brahim Ghali flew to Spain to receive medical care under a fake Algerian ID earlier in June.
Tensions escalated when the Moroccan ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale passed a note saying “the valiant Kabyle people deserve, more than any other, to fully enjoy their right to self-determination.
In mid June, Algiers recalled its ambassador in Rabat for “consultations with immediate effect.” He has not returned.
“There is no sensible justification for the current situation, the more so as the reasons that led to the closing of the border apply no more,” said the King.
“I do not wish to blame or lecture anyone. In fact, we are brothers, who have been separated by an intruding entity, which should not be allowed to come between us.”
The 2,000km border between the two neighbors has been closed since 1994 for security reasons after French-Algerian militants bombed the Atlas-Asni hotel in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, killing two people and wounding several others.
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