Rabat – Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Wednesday slamming Algeria for its “persistent” interference in its internal affairs following a statement made by the Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf about the Sahel country’s counter-terrorism strategy.
Expressing astonishment at Attaf’s remarks, the ministry stressed that this matter falls exclusively under Mali’s sovereignty and decisions made by the Confederation of Sahel States.
“Mali neither seeks nor accepts lessons from Algeria, which, in recent history, conducted its fight against terrorism in full sovereignty,” it added.
According to West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR), Attaf stated that Mali’s military strategy has failed in the fight against terrorism and that a political solution is needed.
The Malian ministry recalled statement the Transitional Government released on January 25 of last year, denouncing Algeria’s “closeness and complicity with the terrorist groups destabilizing Mali.”
It further accused its northern neighbor of providing these groups with “shelter and support while controlling their criminal actions against Malian civilians and the Sahel population.”
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The statement argued that the “undeniable successes” of Mali’s Armed and Security Forces and the pressure they exerted on Algeria-backed terrorist groups “seem difficult to accept for some Algerian officials, nostalgic for a bygone era.”
The ministry reiterated its “deep concerns” over some Algerian authorities’ persisting interference in Mali’s internal affairs, saying that Algiers’s attitude reflects “paternalism, condescension, and disdain.”
It urged Algeria to focus its energy on resolving its own internal “crises and contradictions,” including the Kabyle issue, insteading of adopting a “worn-out strategy of ‘arsonist firefighter.’”
The West African country has often accused Algeria of interfering in its internal affairs, as well as harboring separatist insurgents and terrorist groups in northern Mali.
Speaking at the 79th Ordinary Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September, Mali’s government spokesperson accused Algeria of “serious interference” in his country’s affairs.
“Apart from offering board and lodging, certainly with succulent dishes of tchaktchouka and chorba to terrorists and renegades in disarray, the Algerian permanent representative’s role as a disoriented estafette hardly contributes to the promotion of good neighborly relations,” he argued.
