Mahfud Nahnah wants Moroccan-Algerian relations back to normal

President of the Algerian Society's Movement for Peace, Mahfud Nahnah, said Wednesday he wanted Moroccan-Algerian relations switched back to normal.

Nahnah told "Al Ahram" daily, "We want relations between the brotherly kingdom of Morocco and Algeria to resume their normal course," adding that any conflict between the two countries would not make sense.

Relatedly, Morocco said it has always been for the promotion of Moroccan-Algerian ties.

Morocco has always worked for the promotion of relations and their return to normal, Moroccan Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Mohamed Benaissa told the press in Cairo after meeting President Hosni Mubarak, to whom he handed a message from King Mohammed VI.

Relations between Morocco and Algeria are strained due to Bouteflika's accusations that Morocco hosts rear bases for Islamist terrorists. Morocco repeatedly denied the accusations and termed them as provocative.

The two neighbor nations have been at loggerheads over the Sahara issue, Algiers publicly backing the Polisario front, which claims sovereignty over Morocco's southern provinces.