Algeria: General Chengriha to the rescue of a diplomacy in decline
General Saïd Chengriha, Chief of Staff of the Algerian army, has been visiting Saudi Arabia since 3 February to take part in the World Defence Exhibition being held in Riyadh from 4 to 8 February. In a press release from the Ministry of National Defence, he is described as a "representative of the President of the Republic" and "on an official visit". This status as a representative of President Tebboune is mentioned several times in the Algerian media, which gives the visit an official character. However, at no time did the authorities of the Wahhabi kingdom invite General Saïd Chengriha to pay an official visit, let alone President Tebboune to represent him.
In reality, the official seal given to the visit and the representative status conceal Algiers' desire to present the army chief as a high-ranking interlocutor accredited by the head of state to negotiate the most sensitive issues and to take the necessary decisions without delay.
The Saudis are obviously well aware that General Chengriha is the real decision-maker in Algeria. His word is worth much more than that of Tebboune. But for the Saudis, dialogue with the Algerian government on matters of great interest has been ruled out since the Algerians rejected Saudi mediation in the conflict with their Moroccan neighbours. Since the Algerian Foreign Minister announced the severance of diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco on 24 August 2022, the King of Saudi Arabia has been the first Arab sovereign to offer mediation. The Algerians categorically refused. The Algerians did not even inform him of the reason for this decision, which the Moroccans considered "stupid and unjustified".
Two years later, it was the Algerian regime's turn to ask the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to play the role of good offices mediator to ease the tension they themselves had provoked against the UAE, "for no reason", according to many political observers. And now it is their turn to reap the same rejection they gave the Saudis.
Faced with the failure of their diplomats to convince the Saudis to respond favourably to their request, Algerian leaders finally decided to play the "military diplomacy" card by taking advantage of the participation of their army chief of staff at the World Defence Exhibition in Riyadh. This participation was transformed into an official visit, taking care in their communication not to implicate the Saudis by avoiding adding "at the invitation of the Saudi military command or at the invitation of the Saudi authorities".
The same communiqué from the Algerian Ministry of Defence states that "the army general will take advantage of this occasion to visit structures belonging to the Saudi armed forces and will meet with Saudi military officials in order to study ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation and examine issues of common interest". This means that the trip to Saudi Arabia will not be limited to the World Defence Exhibition. According to generally well-informed sources, General Chengriha is scheduled to meet with a number of Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
His first major meeting this morning, 6 February, was with the young Saudi Defence Minister Khaled Bin Salman, who is only 36 years old, while his Algerian host will soon be blowing out his 79th candle. An age difference of 43 years. One symbolises an ageing regime struggling to reinvigorate its country, while the other is the symbol of a kingdom brilliantly led by a new generation opening the long-closed doors of modernity to its people.
For his part, General Chengriha is impatiently waiting for the doors of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's palace to open. He could wait until 8 February, the date of the end of the event that served as an alibi for his trip to the Wahhabi kingdom.