The military cancels Tebboune's trip to France
Just when all the lights were green for a state visit that will undoubtedly be the most important of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's career, the daily Le Figaro suddenly announced the "postponement" of a trip that had been planned for several months and had been the subject of a recent telephone conversation (24 March) between the two presidents of France and Algeria.
It was Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who called his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on 17 April to announce Algeria's wish to postpone the visit. The reason: there are not enough "objectives" to crown Tebboune's trip. In other words, there will be no major announcements at the end of the visit to justify the Algerian president's trip. As if by magic, it is only after the programme has been decided and the smallest details discussed that one realises that there are not enough issues to discuss to make announcements.
Nevertheless, Tebboune has repeatedly mentioned this Paris trip, insisting that it is a state visit. It is very important to him. He gave the impression that he was looking forward to this trip. What made him change his mind?
Actually, it wasn't Tebboune who changed his mind. It was the military, let's be frank, who refused to grant him the longed-for visa. And there are many reasons for this.
But before ordering Ahmed Attaf to contact his French counterpart by telephone, Tebboune had to be convinced of the validity of the decision to cancel the visa.
The first argument presented to him was the need to give priority to his Russian friends by going first to Moscow rather than to Paris.
It is true that Tebboune is invited to Moscow at the same time. And for a long time, people wondered which of the two capitals would receive the Algerian president first - Moscow or Paris? Finally, Paris has set the date of 2 May for the reception of the Algerian president. However, the military wants and wishes the president to go first to Moscow, which has more affinity with them.
Sources close to the Algerian leaders claim that another date was requested from the Elysée long before the arrival of Mrs Anne-Marie Descôtes. A request that could not be met due to Emmanuel Macron's busy schedule after that date.
To convince Tebboune to give up his trip, another reason given by our Algerian sources, Tebboune was told that there are several outstanding issues with the French. In particular, the decontamination of former French nuclear sites in southern Algeria. The old dossier of the colonial archives was also brought back to the table to justify the cancellation of his Parisian trip.
Finally, the third major argument used by the military to swallow the pill of cancelling his meeting with his friend Macron was that his second day in Paris, 3 May, coincides with press day. And as the press in Algeria is not doing as well as he would have us believe, with journalists in jail, others in exile and a new, very coercive information law, the visit would go awry.
From the outset, the military took a very dim view of a major rapprochement between Tebboune and Macron. A rapprochement that could give wings to the tenant of the El-Mouradia palace who dreams of running for a second term in office to protect himself from possible settling of scores, as is the case with many generals and ministers now languishing in Algerian prisons.
Finally, our sources admit that General Said Chengriha, the army chief of staff, was angry when he learned that he had not been invited to accompany Tebboune. And, in our opinion, this is one of the main reasons for the cancellation of this visit, which may never take place.
It should be recalled that the Algerian president, since his enthronement as head of the Algerian state, has not made a single visit to any Algerian city or region. Not even Algiers. Just as he never went to the mosque to attend religious ceremonies such as the 27th day of Ramadan called "Leilat el-Qadr" (the night of doubt), nor the prayers of the Eid-El-Fitr festival, which marks the end of Ramadan, nor that of Eid El-Ad'ha (the feast of the sacrifice). Nor did he ever go to the stadium to attend an Algerian Cup final. Moreover, since his arrival, the Algerian Cup competition has been cancelled three years in a row.
Cloistered in his presidential palace, Tebboune is totally disconnected from the rest of the world and, in particular, from Algeria. He only knows his country through the reports that the military-led secret services want to give him.
