Algeria announces that it has severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates

Algeria has decided to break diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, citing the exhaustion of all means of maintaining bilateral ties, Algerian state media reported on Thursday. The decision comes amid tensions that have intensified in recent years and repeated accusations made by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune against Abu Dhabi.

The Algerian leader has claimed that the Emirates are conducting destabilizing activities in several countries in the region. In a recent interview, Tebboune said that “wherever they set foot, blood flows” and called on the Emirates to distance themselves from Algeria to avoid bloodshed on the country’s territory.

The president said the diplomatic rupture would have been decided earlier if Algeria had not tried to avoid deepening divisions among Arab states. Last year, he described relations with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as “fraternal,” making a critical reference to another Gulf state without naming it.

Tensions escalated in February, when Algeria began the process of canceling the air services agreement with the Emirates, signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.