Algeria’s Foreign Ministry has criticized false press reports published by Qatari media outlets’ claims of conflict in relations between Algiers and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

 Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Abdulaziz ben Ali Shareef said that “Algeria's position on the Gulf crisis is clear, it stands at a distance from all its parties,” stressing that the information published by international and Gulf media on the existence of differences between Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were “wrong, if not fake”.

“Algeria's relations with its brothers in the Arabian Gulf, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are distinct and are continuing,” Shareef told Algeria's al-Khobar newspaper on Sunday.

The Algerian statement came after a report published by Qatari newspaper al-Raya claimed that “Algeria has recently become a source of great concern to the UAE because of its positions contrary to it in the region, especially Algeria's position on the Gulf crisis.”

“The Gulf political and economic presence in Algeria is strong,” one Algerian diplomat said, “Thanks to the fraternal ties that bind the Algerian leadership with the leaders of the Gulf states”.