French-Algerian vision towards Libya shocks Brotherhood and MPS
The presidency of Algeria issued a statement on June 27
stressing the compatibility of political visions between President Abdelmadjid
Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the Libyan crisis and
the dire conditions in Africa’s Sahel region.
Consensus threatens Brotherhood
The French-Algerian consensus came during a phone call
between the two leaders about the latest developments in the region, confirming
the continuation of communication between the two countries at the highest
level until a solution can be reached to the Libyan crisis that would establish
peace in the country.
The statement confirmed the eagerness of the Algerian
presidency to confirm its position in agreement with France, and therefore it
is mostly compatible with the latest demands made by Paris calling for an unconditional
end to the fighting in the country and urging foreign parties to stop
interfering in Libyan affairs, especially Turkey.
The severity of political discourse directed by Paris to
Ankara regarding the Libyan issue has escalated recently. On June 23, Macron
stated that Turkey's actions and interference in Libya resembled brain death,
accusing Ankara of playing a dangerous game in Libya, which cannot be ignored,
as it contravenes all international decisions produced by the Berlin
Conference.
MPS shocked
Macron's position, which corresponds with Tebboune’s,
opposes the Turkish presence in Libya and Ankara’s desire to deplete Libya’s
natural resources and use the country as a military base to threaten security
in the region. This is a shock to the Brotherhood in Algeria, which had relied on
sharing its position towards Libya with the Algerian presidency to constitute
one Algerian position in general.
On December 31, 2019, the head of the Brotherhood-affiliated
Movement of Society for Peace (MPS), Abderrazak Makri, claimed in a press
conference that the group's stance towards the Libyan file is similar to the
position of the Algerian state in general.
However, this opinion represented a vision of the Government
of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj as being the only legitimate
party in the country under the Skhirat Agreement signed in Morocco in 2015.
Accordingly, the Algerian Brotherhood believes the Sarraj government has full
freedom and international sovereignty to conclude whatever binding agreements
or treaties it wants, referring to agreements signed with Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on military and maritime cooperation, as they are
independent governments and no one should interfere in their affairs.
It is clear from this that the Algerian Brotherhood, who had
considered themselves in harmony with their government regarding Libya, have no
say over the country's political equation towards the state’s position on Libya
and were unable to produce any gains by courting Tebboune. On the contrary,
their positions became exposed, and it is the same position that the group won
in Tunisia after President Kais Saied said that the GNA’s legitimacy was only temporary
and should not last.
Brotherhood against France
It is also clear that mixing the political cards in Algeria
with regard to the situation in Libya and the state’s position will affect the
Brotherhood’s subsequent propaganda, as Tebboune’s tendency to adopt the French
position at the expense of the Turkish position adopted by the Brotherhood will
not pass without the group trying o spread its propaganda, which entirely
depends on betraying opponents and accusing them of working for Europe and
Paris.
In this regard, Algerian political researcher Hamid Zanaz told
the Reference that MPS and all extremist currents depend on distorting their
opponents as agents of the West, whom they label as atheists and unsuitable
with the standards of Islamic society. They are therefore likely to employ all available
rhetoric and meaningless speeches to champion their cause, but public awareness
of their position is stronger than before.
