‘This is unfounded’: Morocco rejects Algerian real estate allegations

Morocco rejects Algerian accusations of a planned “looting” of property it owns in Rabat, considering them “baseless” and part of a “spirit of unjustified escalation”, a Moroccan diplomatic source said on Monday.

Algeria’s Foreign Ministry condemned Morocco’s “provocations” on Sunday as part of an “operation to steal” property from its embassy in Rabat following press reports.

“It is unfounded, it contains many erroneous statements and gives rise to a spirit of unjustified escalation,” responded a Moroccan diplomatic source.

“This is not a topic that Morocco has dealt with quietly”

According to this source, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, as part of an expansion project, acquired the premises remaining in 2022 from Algeria after the relocation of the embassy, ​​on the land of this mission adjacent to the offices of the ministry.

“This is not a topic that Morocco has dealt with quietly, but, on the contrary, in full transparency and in direct contact with the responding Algerian authorities,” the source said, adding that the procedure “has stalled today.” “Today because Morocco is not in the logic of escalation.”

Broken relationships from 2021

The Moroccan ministry has taken similar steps with other foreign missions in the district to expand its facilities, the source said.

Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Rabat in August 2021, condemning a series of “hostile acts” by its neighbor, especially regarding Western Sahara and normalization of relations with Israel. Rabat considered this decision “totally unjustified.”