Algeria has been using an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
devoted to Palestine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to plot her return from isolation in the Middle East and beyond.
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf is seeking to reaffirm his country’s presence on the Arab scene, coming against the backdrop of growing isolation for Algiers, marginalised both in the Arab world and in Africa.
On the special instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Attaf took part in Monday evening’s Extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, convened by Turkey.
On the agenda: the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s plans for occupation and forced displacement.
While Algeria attempts to appear at the forefront of the Palestinian debacle, its tenuous diplomacy struggles to mask its shortfalls.
Unlike Morocco, Egypt, or Qatar, Algiers plays no central role in regional mediation.
His repeated statements are hampered by a lack of concrete leverage, and his diplomatic efforts are too often limited to international forums where his voice remains marginal.
Ahmed Attaf’s visit is part of a catch-up strategy: to reconnect with Riyadh and demonstrate Arab solidarity, even as Algeria suffers from persistent diplomatic isolation. Its relations with several Gulf capitals remain cold.
On the African continent, Algiers is overshadowed by Morocco, whose economic and political initiatives are
strengthening its influence.
In a context where the Palestinian question is largely mobilising OIC countries, the Algerian presence in Jeddah appears more of an image-laundering exercise than a real ability to influence the course of the discourse over Palestine.
Algeria, which aspires to position itself as the “voice of the people,” remains confined to a peripheral role, unable to transform its positions into diplomatic leadership. This attempt to “re-glue the glasses” with Riyadh underlines the contrast between the regime’s proactive discourse and the reality of a country in retreat, isolated within the Arab world as well as in Africa.
MK/Sf/ac/fss/as/APA