An Algerian attempt to exfiltrate the Polisario blocked by Malta

The noose is tightening around Algeria, the main support of the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario. The authorities of Malta expelled an Air Algérie flight which was to repatriate Sahrawi nationals to the Tindouf camps. The affair was passed over in silence by Algiers.

Algeria continues to seek to violate the rules and procedures in force in foreign countries and to override the sovereign authorities of the latter to maintain its separatist project in Morocco.

But the country of Abdelmadjid Tebboune continues to have its straps lifted, and has once again come up against a disappointment.

After having tried to have the leader of the separatist militia, Brahim Ghali, treated last April in several European capitals and encountered categorical refusals, Algeria had finally succeeded in convincing Spain to do so in secret. . The affair gave rise to a serious diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid.

This time, a new similar affair occurred but was covered up by the Algerian authorities to avoid a public scandal and further tarnish its image as an authoritarian state, not respecting the sovereignty of other countries.

According to the Algeria Part news site, on Saturday April 30, the Maltese authorities expelled a plane belonging to the Algerian national airline, Air Algérie. It was a special flight, having taken off “totally empty” from Algiers to reach Valletta.

The plane was specially chartered by Algeria to exfiltrate dissident Saharawi nationals, active members of the Polisario, to Tindouf, the region that the Algerian authorities have specially granted to members of the militia to take up residence and set up their military camps, and house thousands of Moroccan Sahrawis forced into exile there.

“The Maltese authorities never agreed to authorize this repatriation operation. Upon arrival on Maltese soil, the Air Algérie crew was turned away by the local authorities,” said Algérie Part, a dissident investigative site from the regime.

And to wonder why the Maltese authorities were so firm and categorical in refusing this flight, if in principle this flight was in order. A normal commercial flight would not have faced a deportation order, especially since the plane was cleared to land.

Also, it should be noted that the identity of these Sahrawis of the polisario was not communicated, and it is undoubtedly a central element in this affair which resembles that of Brahim Ghali who had landed in Spain with a false identity manufactured by Algiers which granted him a diplomatic passport.

The question of knowing what such a large group of Polisario members was doing at the same time on the soil of the Mediterranean island is also intriguing. According to Algérie part, these questions would disturb Algiers and were met with silence.

The last time Malta had a relationship with the Sahara dispute was in 2011 when the island hosted a round of talks in March between the parties to the conflict, when Christopher Ross was the Secretary’s Personal Envoy. General of the UN for the Sahara affair.