Ahlul Bayt News Agency, ALGIERS -- The Algerian authorities refused to receive Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas on its soil during his tour in the north African Arab countries, including Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco, well-informed Algerian sources revealed.
According to the Belad newspaper published on Monday, the Algerian rejection to host Abbas reflects the deteriorating ties between Algeria and Abbas's authority in Ramallah as evident with Abbas's absence from Algeria for the past five years.
The paper added that although neither side revealed reasons behind the differences between the two authorities, reports from Algeria disclose extreme Algerian anger at Abbas over money donations Algeria sent to enhance steadfastness of the Palestinian people but millions of dollars of this aid were embezzled by Abbas's associates and high-profile personalities in Ramallah who deposited them in their personal bank accounts.
Such a behavior prompted Algeria not to send a single penny directly to the PA, and opted to pass the financial aid through the Arab League instead.
Algeria is considered one of the biggest Arab donors to the Palestinian people beside Qatar and the KSA.
However, other sources opined that the discord between Abbas's authority and Algeria was due to Algeria's feeling that Abbas remembers it only when he needs money but ignores it as far as the peace process in the Middle East is concerned, in addition to the compromises Abbas and his retinue made at the expense of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian national issue.
Algeria was the venue of the first declaration of establishing the independent Palestinian state by the then PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1988.
But over the past five years, Algeria appeared to have shifted gear as it widely welcomed many Hamas's senior officials on the government and popular levels.
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