Algeria-UAE Tensions Escalate: From Cold War to Open Insults
Once close allies, Algiers and Abu Dhabi are now locked in a deepening diplomatic rift fueled by geopolitical disputes, media attacks, and high-level personal affronts.
Watan-Under the headline “Between Tebboune and Mohammed bin Zayed… the Cold War Turns to Exchange of Insults”, French magazine Jeune Afrique reports that the once-strong relationship between Algeria and the UAE is now little more than a memory. Today, Algeria accuses the oil-rich Gulf state of seeking to destabilize it.
In a surreal scene during the June 2024 G7 summit in Bari, Italy, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was seen having a private conversation with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed. Tebboune pointed a finger at his counterpart’s chest — a gesture that, while ambiguous, seemed to symbolize threat, rebuke, or sharp criticism. What exactly was said is unknown, but the finger-pointing encapsulated the ongoing “cold war” between the two nations.
According to Jeune Afrique, this diplomatic deterioration is no longer superficial — it’s evolved into direct accusations and undiplomatic language. From the Western Sahara dispute to the conflicts in Libya and the Sahel, and most recently UAE’s normalization with Israel, Algeria has several grievances. The magazine argues that understanding today’s hostility requires revisiting the more cordial era under former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had close personal and political ties to the UAE — even declaring national mourning when Sheikh Zayed died in 2004.
Under Bouteflika, the Emiratis secured major contracts in Algeria, and the Algerian military frequently purchased Emirati arms. General Ahmed Gaid Salah, the former army chief, visited the UAE so often that some accused him of being under Emirati influence.
However, when Tebboune took office, the dynamics changed. The first rupture came in November 2020 when the UAE opened a consulate in Laayoune, a disputed city in Western Sahara — a move Algeria saw as backing Morocco’s claim over the territory. That same year, the UAE normalized relations with Israel — another move seen by Algeria as a “provocation.”
Still, in 2021, the UAE showed signs of goodwill by extraditing former Sonatrach CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour to Algeria. Yet Tebboune continued his criticism. In March 2024, he stated: “Wherever there are conflicts, the money of that country (UAE) is there — whether in Mali, Libya, or Sudan.”
In May 2025, Algeria’s state broadcaster launched an unprecedented verbal attack on the UAE following a Sky News Arabia interview in which an Algerian academic questioned the Amazigh component of Algeria’s identity. That academic was later sentenced to five years in prison for “undermining national unity.”
The phrases used on Algerian TV shocked even some Algerians — describing the UAE as a “mini-state,” “artificial entity,” “dwarfs,” and a “factory of evil and sedition.” These insults, reportedly issued by order of the presidency and not the foreign ministry, met no official response from the UAE. Mohammed bin Zayed reportedly chose to remain silent — a sign of disdain or strategic restraint.
Jeune Afrique concludes that in the UAE, silence is seen as dignified, whereas in Algeria, the proverb “He who stays silent consents” carries a very different connotation. The cold war between the “Arab brothers” has turned into a diplomatic firestorm, with no clear end in sight.
