Algeria on Thursday severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as the “exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral ties,” Algerian state media said.
It attributed the decision to “increasingly provocative or hostile actions” by the UAE.
It added that Algeria has spared no effort “to alert the Emirati side and warn it of the dire consequences that could result from its regrettable and unjustified behavior.”
“Despite the repeated warnings, the UAE persisted in these actions that have reached an extent where they could no longer be considered acceptable within the framework of relations between two sovereign states.”
Algiers said it was giving the UAE ambassador to Algeria 48 hours “to comply with the decision.”
Later Thursday, Ennahar TV reported that Algiers had decided to close its airspace to all UAE registered civilian and military aircraft as of Friday, Sept. 11.
The UAE said it hopes the Algerian decision to cut diplomatic ties would be temporary.
In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry affirmed the UAE’s “appreciation for the brotherly Algerian people and its pride in the bonds that unite the two peoples, particularly through the Algerian community residing in the UAE and Algerian visitors.”
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the UAE president, said on X that diplomatic relations should be based on “rationality, communication and clarity of interests,” rather than “riddles and signals that require decoding,” He did not explicitly name Algeria in his post.
Al Arabiya With Reuters