After having set up an International Cooperation Agency to compete with Morocco on the African scene, the Algerian president aims to bring changes to the army's way of functioning. As part of the constitutional revision project, he plans to send soldiers abroad to take part in peacekeeping missions in Africa and elsewhere. The presidency of the Algerian republic unveiled, Thursday, May 7, the preliminary version of the draft of the amended constitution. The document includes a notable novelty. It plans to turn the page on Algeria's «military non-interventionism» beyond its borders. This principle has been enshrined in the drafting of each of the country's fundamental laws since independence. Article 29 of the current constitution, in force since March 6, 2016, indicates that «Algeria refrains from resorting to war to infringe the legitimate sovereignty and the freedom of other peoples. It strives to settle international disputes by peaceful means». The text proposed by Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Algerians now allows peacekeeping operations, with soldiers sent abroad to help their counterparts at the United Nations, the African Union or the Arab League. The amendment is pending the ratification of the parliament. Competing with Morocco on the African scene This change comes as the Algerian president had announced before that he wants his country to recover its place within the African scene. A goal abundantly repeated by Tebboune during his recent appearances and speeches. This new strategy was adopted recently towards the Libyan crisis and the appointment of Ramtan Lamamra, the former Foreign minister, as the UN envoy to Libya to replace Ghassan Salamé, who resigned earlier this year. This amendment proposed by Tebboune comes two weeks after the installation of the first director general of the International Cooperation Agency, entrusted to Mohamed Chafik Mesbah, a former colonel of military intelligence who served as the internal security adviser of the former Head of State Lamine Zeroual (November 27, 1995 - April 27, 1999). Sending soldiers abroad would allow Algerian soldiers to soak up missions on other battlefields against actual enemies in anticipation of other war projects. The sending of Algerian soldiers abroad is also a message addressed to Morocco, especially on the African scene where contingents of the Royal Armed Forces are currently deployed as part of the peacekeeping mission of the Blue Helmets : Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic. Such presence dates back to the first years of the Kingdom's independence. A real lever of influence on the continental scene that Morocco wanted to exhibit within the premises of the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, on the occasion of the ordinary summit in January 2018.
