The former head of Qatar state funded channel Al Jazeera Yasser Abu Hilala stirred controversy on Twitter after he accused Morocco of having explicitly «supported terrorism» in Algeria during the nineties. Abu Hilala reacted, earlier in December, to the statement of Algeria's newly elected president Abdelmajid Tebboune, who addressed the reopening of land borders between Morocco and Algeria, urging Moroccans to apologize. «It is unimportant to apologize», Abu Hilala said, stressing that relations between the two countries have already been affected. ليس مهما الاعتذار، #الجزائر و #المغرب استنزاف عبثي، الجزائر تدعم الانفصاليين الصحراويين والمغرب يدعم الانفصاليين الأمازيغ. بإمكان البلدين حل الإشكال بما يحافظ على وحدة التراب واحترام التنوع الثقافي https://t.co/mpYqEjudwu — ياسر أبوهلالة (@abuhilalah) December 15, 2019 «Algeria supports Saharawi separatists and Morocco supports Amazigh separatists. The two states can find solutions while preserving their territorial units and their cultural diversity», he added. These statements provoked Moroccan Twitter users, who denied Abu Hilala's assumptions. He responded, saying that «Morocco has supported the GIA, the Armed Islamic Group», created in Algeria during the 1990s. It is worth mentioning that Algerian officials have never mentioned the alleged involvement of Morocco in supporting the GIA. Furthermore, GIA's founder and leader Abdelhak Layada was arrested in Morocco and handed over to the Algerian authorities in September 1993.
