ALGERIA CUTS DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH UAE, BANS AIRCRAFT

Algeria severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing "provocative and hostile acts" by Abu Dhabi. The Algerian foreign ministry stated it had "exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations" after issuing repeated warnings to the UAE. The Emirati ambassador was summoned to the ministry, informed of the decision, and given 48 hours to leave the country. Algeria's defence ministry announced that an airspace ban on all UAE-registered civilian and military aircraft would take effect on Friday, with an exception for UAE commercial flights to and from Algiers airport, which will be permitted until the end of 2026.

The precise catalyst for the rupture remained unspecified in official statements. The foreign ministry said the UAE "persisted in its actions, reaching a point where they could no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable". Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has previously accused the UAE of destabilising regional nations, referring to it as a "micro-state" and stating in a July televised interview that "wherever they set foot, blood flows". Relations have been strained for years, with the two countries on opposing sides of several regional disputes, including the Western Sahara question and normalisation with Israel—which the UAE pursued under the 2020 Abraham Accords while Algeria opposed the move.

The UAE foreign ministry expressed regret over the decision, hoping it would prove temporary to maintain "fraternal ties" with Algeria. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, posted on social media that diplomatic relations should be based on "rationality, communication and clarity of interests" rather than "riddles and signals that require decoding", though he did not explicitly reference Algeria or directly link his comments to the announcement.