During the Council of Ministers of August 30, 2021 chaired by the Algerian Head of State, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, several appointments were made to the Foreign Ministry. The diplomat Amar Belani will be in charge of the question of the Sahara and the Maghreb countries. An appointment that comes in the context of a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco.
The Sahara issue is more than ever at the heart of Algerian diplomacy. On Monday, the government adopted in the Council of Ministers an action plan focused in particular on strengthening national security and defense and the achievement of an “active and proactive” foreign policy. In this sense, he announced the appointment of several diplomats to different positions of responsibility. Among them, Amar Belani, former spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will be in charge of the Sahara issue. This diplomat has held several ambassadorial posts, the most recent of which is to the Kingdom of Belgium and to the European Union and NATO.
The Sahara issue remains one of the reasons why Algiers claims to have cut ties with Rabat. Last December, Morocco normalized its diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for the American recognition of the kingdom’s sovereignty over the Sahara. Diplomatic exploits that Algeria has still not accepted.
