Algerian Foreign Minister Ramdane Lamamra has accused Rabat of being “cruel” while Algiers is severing ties with its neighbors.
Algeria cuts its diplomatic ties with Morocco, Foreign Minister Ramdane Lamamra said, accusing his neighbors of “cruelty”.
Morocco and Algeria have been straining relations for years, especially in the case of Western Sahara.
“Algeria has decided to end its relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco from today,” Lamamra told a news conference on Tuesday.
“The Moroccan government did not stop their persecution of Algeria,” he said.
The severance of the negotiations will take effect from Tuesday but consulates in each country will remain open, Lamamra said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morocco was not immediately reached for comment.
King Mohammed VI has called for good relations with Algeria.
Algeria last week said the deadly fire was the work of groups he called “terrorists”, who he said were backed by Morocco.
The program of a forest fire in Algeria, which began on August 9 in the middle of a tropical storm, burned thousands of acres of forest and killed at least 90 people, including more than 30 soldiers.
Algerian authorities have set fire to a series of high-profile cases in the Berber region, especially in Kabylie, which runs along the Mediterranean coast east of the capital, Algiers.
Authorities also accused Kabylie’s Movement for Independence (MAK) of plotting to burn down a house, which led to outrage.
Algiers last week accused Rabat of backing MAK, which it calls a “terrorist group”.
“Morocco’s atrocities against Algeria have led to the re-establishment of relations between the two countries,” the president said last week.
It also said that there would be a “strengthening of security on the western border” by Morocco.
The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since 1994.
Algeria supports the Polisario group, which seeks independence in Western Sahara, which Morocco considers part of.