Morocco king 'yet to decide' on whether he'll attend Arab League summit in Algiers

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has "yet to decide" if he will attend the annual Arab League summit in Algeria next week, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita has said.

Arriving in Algiers ahead of the regional meeting which begins on Tuesday, Bourita told reporters that "Mohammed VI has yet to decide whether the conditions for his participation have been met".

Speculation over whether the Moroccan monarch could attend the meeting has swirled ever since Algerian justice minister Abderrachid Tabi delivered an official invitation to Rabat on 27 September, in a sign that ties between the North African neighbours might be warming.

Since then, an official source in the secretariat of the Arab League told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site that the king's attendance at the summit had been confirmed.

"The necessary arrangements are taking place," the source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The Moroccan royal office has remained tight-lipped over the king’s travel schedule throughout, and several Moroccan media sources have denied that the king is a confirmed attendee. 

Fractious relations between the neighbouring countries have already threatened to spill over before the summit has even begun, casting a shadow over the king’s mooted appearance. 

In a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Saturday, disputes broke out between Bourita and his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra over a map that did not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, according to Algerian media. 

The Moroccan foreign ministry has denied reports of the argument. 

Historically fraught ties between the two countries weakened further in August 2021, when Algeria severed diplomatic ties with Morocco over its "hostile acts" in Western Sahara and its normalisation of ties with Israel.