The Algerian Military Regime: When the Tables are Turned

The dictatorial Algerian military regime has taken the bait. It thought that cutting off the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline would suffocate Morocco, only to find Morocco suffocating it with the very same pipeline. After the generals in Algiers arrogantly refused to renew the gas transit contract through Moroccan territory, Morocco flipped the equation within 24 hours: it reversed the pipeline’s direction and began importing gas from Spain. The infrastructure funded by the military regime from the budget of the Algerian people and their daily bread has today become a lifeline for Morocco. But the real nightmare haunting the military regime has not yet begun. Morocco is putting the finishing touches on the “deal of the century”: connecting Nigerian gas to this Maghreb pipeline, and from there to the heart of Europe. At that point, all of Algeria’s pipelines will become scrap metal, and it will lose the only blackmail card it holds over the world. The generals have lost their minds. They rushed to Madrid in a dirty secret deal: “We will give you cheap gas, but change your position on the Sahara issue.” They thought Morocco was sleeping. The Moroccan response came like a thunderbolt: it reminded Spain and the European Union that their national security begins in Rabat; that a million African migrants are waiting for the slightest opportunity to march on the borders of the occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco also reminds them that its intelligence services are the ones dismantling drug networks and terrorist cells in many European countries. Morocco gave them a single signal: it merely “loosened” its security grip for a few days. The result: over 50,000 migrants—including Algerians, Moroccans, Africans, Syrians, and Yemenis—invaded the shores of Ceuta and Melilla in just three days. A message written in blood: “We are the ones who protect you from the flood, so do not mess with us.” The Algerian military regime wanted to punish Morocco with a pipeline, but instead punished itself with isolation and marginalization. The golden rule the generals failed to understand: he who digs a hole for Morocco falls into it alone. And he who plays with fire will be burned by the gas pipeline he cut with his own hands.