Algeria cuts diplomatic ties with United Arab Emirates over 'provocative and hostile actions'

Algeria decided to sever diplomatic relations ​with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as the "exhaustion of all means to ​preserve ‌bilateral ties", Algerian state ⁠media said on Thursday. State media later said the decision was a result of what it described as the UAE's "provocative and hostile actions".

The UAE Foreign ⁠Ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Algiers said it was giving the UAE ambassador to Algeria 48 hours "to comply with the decision".

Algerian media outlets ​have in the past sharply ‌criticised the UAE, accusing it of seeking to sow regional discord.

Last year, Algerian President ‌Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his country's relations with all Gulf ​states were warm except for one, in a thinly veiled reference to the UAE. ​He described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, ​Oman and Qatar as "brotherly", ​while accusing the unnamed country of meddling in Algeria's ​internal affairs and seeking to destabilise it.

Tensions escalated further in February, when Algeria began the process of cancelling an air services ⁠agreement with the UAE that was signed in Abu ⁠Dhabi ​in May 2013.

Tebboune has often referred to the UAE in speeches as a "micro-state" or "statelet" seeking to destabilise several countries in the region.

"Wherever they set foot, blood flows," he said in a televised interview in July, adding that the UAE has had a "very negative impact".

"We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country," he added.

At the time, Tebboune said a diplomatic break "would have happened long ago" had Algeria not sought to avoid "deepening divisions" in the Arab world.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)