Algeria slaps visa requirements on Moroccans, citing alleged criminal activity including ‘Zionist espionage’

ALGIERS – Algeria says it is imposing visa requirements on Moroccans, accusing its passport holders of criminal activity, including “Zionist espionage,” in a new downturn in fraught relations with its neighbor.

A statement carried by Algeria’s official APS news agency charges that Morocco has “engaged in various actions that threaten Algeria’s stability” and accuses Rabat of having “deployed Zionist espionage agents holding Moroccan passports to freely enter the national territory.”

It also says Morocco has been conducting “multiple networks of organized crime, drug and human trafficking, not to mention smuggling and illegal immigration” within its borders.

Earlier this month, authorities in the Algerian city of Tlemcen said they had arrested seven people, including four Moroccans, accused of belonging to a spy ring.

Algiers broke diplomatic ties with Rabat in August 2021, citing “hostile acts” by its neighbor, months after the kingdom normalized relations with Israel.

In 2020, then-US president Donald Trump recognized Morocco’s annexation of the disputed Western Sahara in return for Rabat normalizing relations with Israel.

The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed for 30 years.