Algeria–Libya relations

Algeria–Libya relations were generally amicable during the 41-year rule by Muammar Gaddafi of the latter country.^[1] Strong Libyan support for the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara (until 1984) and similarly hardline positions on colonialism and Israel, facilitated 1970s Algerian relations with Libya.^[1] Libyan inclinations for full-scale political union, however, have obstructed formal political collaboration because Algeria has consistently backed away from such cooperation with its unpredictable neighbour.^[1] (A vote by the CCN on June 30, 1987, actually supported union between Libya and Algeria, but the proposal was tabled and later retracted by the FLN Central Committee after the heads of state failed to agree.^[1]) The Treaty of Oujda between Libya and Morocco, which represented a response to Algeria's Treaty of Fraternity and Concord with Tunisia, temporarily aggravated Algerian-Libyan relations by establishing a political divide in the region--Libya and Morocco on one side; Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania on the other.^[1] Finally, in 1988 Libya was invited to participate in the Inter-Maghrib commission that was responsible for developing the North African Union.^[1] The establishment of the UMA in February 1989 marked the first formal political or economic collaboration between the two neighbours.^[1]

2011 Libyan civil war

During the Libyan civil war in 2011, the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council of Libya accused Algeria of supporting Gaddafi by allowing him to traffic war materiel and foreign fighters through Algerian territory.^[2][3]

On 8 May, Sadek Bouguetaya, a parliamentary leader and member of the Central Committee of the ruling FLN party, expressed Algeria's unconditional support for Gaddafi while addressing Gaddafi's meeting of Libyan tribes in Tripoli.^[4] Later he explained during an interview to the Algerian newspaper Ech-Chourouk that his visit to Libya was for humanitarian purposes and that he was charged with this mission by Abdelaziz Belkhadem, the Secretary-General of the FLN and Minister.^[5]

In early June 2011, though, the NTC began to soften its rhetoric. Ghoga, the NTC's vice chairman, agreed to an interview with Algerian daily Echorouk in which he said, "The Algerian and Libyan peoples are brothers. We are confident that our relations will be stronger in the coming days. We don't want to engage in conflicts with other countries especially with a brotherly country like Algeria. We also wish to see Algeria extend its support for the NTC very shortly."^[6]

Despite Ghoga's efforts to mend relations with Algeria, two and a half months later, opposition fighters stormed the Algerian Embassy in Tripoli during Operation Mermaid Dawn, looting and vandalising the building. It was unclear whether the vandals had orders to target the embassy. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci complained to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the incident.^[7] An NTC official claimed in an interview with French media that 556 mercenaries from the Western Sahara's Polisario Front, whom documents taken from the Algerian Embassy suggested were trafficked through Algeria into Libya with the knowledge and complicity of the Algerian government, had been arrested and were to be tried in Benghazi. The documents indicated the Algerian government acted in support of Gaddafi's regime throughout the civil war despite its officials' insistence to the contrary, according to the report.^[8] On 24 August, the Algerian Foreign Ministry again denied the allegations Algiers had offered support to Gaddafi during the war and demanded that the NTC recant on its previous accusations as a condition for the Algerian government to recognise the council.^[9]

However, when it emerged that Algeria was allegedly sheltering Gaddafi after he had fled following the NTC takeover of Tripoli, the NTC took a much harsher tone. On 29 August, it said that Algeria sheltering Gaddafi or his family members would be viewed as an "act of aggression".^[10] In response, Libyan security forces closed the border with Algeria to prevent any more illicit crossings.

References