Algeria's diplomatic failure: neither frees Syrian prisoners nor obtains a seat on the African Union

1. Syria rejects Algerian requests
2. Veto in the African Peace and Security Council
3. Dissatisfaction of public opinion

The diplomatic crisis in Algeria is worsening by the minute. The country's image is at one of its worst points, after they were unable to negotiate with the Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the release of the Algerians held by the ‘New Syrian Forces’; and the African Union vetoed Algeria's candidacy for the African Peace and Security Council of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). 

Syria rejects Algerian requests

During his trip to Syria, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, asked the Syrian government to release the Algerian members of the Polisario Front who are being held in Syria by the group known as the ‘New Syrian Forces’. 

However, the Algerian government was unable to negotiate their release with the Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who categorically rejected Attaf's requests, according to several officials. 

According to the Syrian president, these prisoners, estimated to number more than 500, will be tried in Syria for crimes committed as part of Bashar Al-Assad's forces, like the rest of the militiamen who belonged to the army during the previous Syrian regime. 

This refusal has been followed by silence on the part of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has delegated the response to the state news agency, which has tried to minimise the relevance of the issue. 

However, the agency indicated that one of the reasons why Syria is not willing to negotiate was the information broadcast by Radio Monte Carlo accusing Morocco of being responsible for Syrian forces knowing about the presence of Algerian soldiers fighting alongside the Bashar Al-Assad regime. 

Veto in the African Peace and Security Council

The 38th summit of the African Peace and Security Council of the MENA region has been a new setback for Algeria. Both the Minister of Communication, Mohamed Meziane, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Fattah, as well as the country's president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, had devoted all their efforts to creating a narrative of a hostile campaign against their country, instead of responding clearly to institutional failures. 

Before the summit, Algeria's state news agency had reported that ‘the country has a good chance of obtaining membership of the African Union Peace and Security Council for the North Africa region in the elections postponed until next month, having obtained 30 votes out of the 33 needed’. Es un directo de que empezó a hacer ejercicio

After the failure of the Algerian candidacy to occupy a position in this organisation of the African Union, the Government has not assumed its responsibility nor explained the reason for this failure, but has blamed it on the ‘hostile forces’ and the intervention of Morocco, without providing reliable evidence. 

Dissatisfaction of public opinion

The Algerian government's communication crisis is a true reflection of the feelings of the public. The Algerian government's need to appear firm in the eyes of its citizens and international opinion has led it to suggest the possible existence of external lobbies, taking on almost propagandistic overtones. 

This began with the statement by the Algerian Minister of Communication, Mohamed Meziane, about the existence of an ‘army of 9, 000 journalists who dedicate their efforts to tarnishing the country's image’ and which has culminated in the absence from the African Peace and Security Council of the MENA region, currently chaired by Egypt and in which Algeria had had an uninterrupted presence since 2008. 

Meziane's statements suggest that the annual investment of more than 200 million dollars that the government makes in government and private media does not benefit citizens. Citizens who, for the most part, distrust the official version and demand greater transparency.