Sierra Leonean President's bizarre visit to Algiers

Although the visit was not planned at all, and there was nothing to indicate that the Algerian capital would receive a visit from a head of state with whom relations are practically non-existent, we learned from a press release from the President of the Republic that President Tebboune had received his Sierra Leonean counterpart at the El-Mouradia Palace.  

The Algerian guest was not received at Houari Boumediene airport in Algiers, as is the tradition. He was accompanied by a delegation of two people who were totally ignored in the press release of the Presidency of the Republic and the official press agency (Algérie Presse Service). The Sierra Leonean President's activities were limited to a meeting with the Algerian President and a joint press conference. The following day, he visited the Grand Mosque of Algiers before leaving Algeria. He was accompanied to the airport by the Algerian foreign minister. 

Thus ended the visit to Algeria by the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, which lasted less than 24 hours. Strangely enough, the Algerian presidency had announced that the visit would last three days. In announcing the departure of the Algerian guest, the APS press agency had written, as can be seen in the picture, "The President of Sierra Leone completes a three-day official visit to Algeria". It is impossible to understand.  

Nor do we understand how the visit of the head of a state with which there is no exchange of ambassadors was planned. Worse still, Sierra Leone has an ambassador in Rabat and a consulate in Dakhla, in recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. As its Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Francis, declared on 27 August 2021, at the end of his visit to the Kingdom of Sierra Leone.  

Compared to the visit of the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone to Algiers, the visit of his head of diplomacy to Morocco in August 2021 was more fruitful, as it led to the opening of an embassy in Rabat and a consulate in Dakhla. 

The Algerians are content with vague statements that make no sense, as we read in the APS dispatch: "For his part, the president of Sierra Leone noted a "convergence of positions" between the two countries on the atrocities suffered by the Palestinian people and on "the settlement of the question of Western Sahara within the framework of international charters".  

It was also noted that 'this visit coincided with the beginning of the two countries' mandates as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the period 2024-2025 (...)'. It is now revealed that Algeria shares the status of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council with Sierra Leone, one of the seven poorest countries in the world.  However, Algerian leaders have presented this status to the Algerian public as a diplomatic achievement. They have even avoided mentioning that Algeria has obtained this status on three previous occasions.