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The «Kabylia government» in exile denied, on Tuesday, the arrest in Morocco of a group of militants from the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK). «We categorically deny this information, which is part of a propaganda campaign orchestrated by the Algerian regime to discredit our movement», states the body chaired by Ferhat Mehenni in a press release. «The enemies of Kabylia are using disinformation as a tool of war against our independence», adds the same source.
Speaking to Yabiladi, MAK spokesman Aksel Bellabbaci, in charge of relations with Morocco, clarified the situation. «Algerian media have announced the imprisonment in Morocco of nine MAK activists. This campaign was launched two days after my release in France. They claim that these arrests would be a weapon of pressure in the hands of the Moroccan authorities to force MAK members to commit violent acts in Algeria, such as setting fire to the forests of Kabylia. This is completely false», he explained. «Moreover, there are not many Kabyle activists in Morocco. There are only three people who have been granted political asylum there», said Bellabbaci.
After Algeria issued an international arrest warrant for «terrorist acts», French justice arrested Aksel Bellabbaci on June 20. «I am accused by Algeria of being the key figure behind the people who deliberately set fires in Kabylia in the summer of 2021, and of the murder of Jamal Bensmain. I have been placed under judicial supervision. My trial will start on September 11 in Paris», he told Yabiladi.
For the record, the former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, told Russian media in October 2021 that «Morocco has used a number of people and groups considered to be terrorists as tools in its war to destabilize Algeria».
Relations between Kabylia and Morocco stagnate
Aksel Bellabbaci also addressed relations between the Kingdom and the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia. «They are stagnating», he said. «We are waiting for the official announcement of the creation of the collective in support of the proclamation of the Kabyle state in Morocco before launching a communication campaign aimed at parties and civil society», said MAK spokesman, who is also in charge of relations with Morocco.
«Some Moroccan political parties are sympathetic to our movement, but without translating this into action, while others are totally hostile to our demands, such as the PJD, which welcomed the banning of a meeting in Agadir in support of the proclamation of the Kabyle state on April 20 in New York», noted Aksel Bellabbaci.
For the record, Ferhat Mehenni had noted, in a speech delivered last March, that «since 2015, Morocco has stagnated in its appreciation of the situation of Kabylia and the right to self-determination. This stagnation is at the root of the advantage regained by Algiers».
