In an unexpected way and in the twilight of summer difficult relationship between Algeria and Morocco This week – just two years since the two Maghrebin neighbors severed diplomatic ties – a new high-voltage episode broke out involving five tourists of Moroccan origin living there France.
Although what is happening is still surrounded by questions because neither of the governments of the two countries has avoided offering public information about it, i.eFrench-Moroccan youth enjoying jet skis along with two other tourists Coast of Saidiaa seaside resort in far eastern Morocco, were shot dead by the Algerian Coast Guard when they accidentally entered Algerian waters.
One of those who died is Bilal Kiss, a French national who was born 29 years ago in the French town of Montfermeil, on the outskirts of Paris. His body washed away in Moroccan waters where it was found on Wednesday and buried yesterday. The other deceased is Abdelali Mechouar, 38 years old, Moroccan and resident in France. His body is still on Algerian territory, more precisely in a morgue in the city of Tlemcen, his father confirmed yesterday to the EFE agency. The Franco-Moroccan for his part Ismail Snabé was arrested by the Algerian coast guard on Wednesday and brought before the public prosecutor’s officeaccording to the Moroccan digital Le360.
According to the account of one of the survivors and brother of one of the deceased, Mohamed Kissi, who managed to swim back to Moroccan waters and was rescued by the gendarmerie – like another tourist – before being transferred to Saidia when he fell into the sea In the afternoon the The group ran out of fuel for their motorcycles, causing them to make an incorrect landing in Algerian waters.
At the end of this edition, the Algerian authorities remained silent about the events of last Tuesday and the Moroccans, through a government spokesman, limited themselves to saying that the case was in the hands of the judiciary. According to information from EFE, theThe Moroccan Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a judicial investigation to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
On the other hand, yesterday, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a brief statement, the French confirmed the death of a French national and the detention of another “in an incident involving several French people”. An incident that has led to contacts between the French and the Algerian and Moroccan authorities Context of the tensions in the relations between the two Maghreb countries and the former colonial power.
Today, while relations between Paris and the two most important countries in North Africa are not particularly fluid, bridges between the Algerian and Moroccan authorities are practically broken. On August 24, it was two years since the Algerian authorities severed diplomatic ties with Morocco, flaunting Rabat’s alleged support for Berber independence in the north of the country Espionage by the Pegasus program. The diplomatic breach has wiped out the possibility of reopening borders between the two countries, which had been closed for almost thirty years.
