The Pegasus scandal further aggravates relations between Morocco and Algeria
The Pegasus software was developed by the Israeli company NSO.
JOEL SAGET AFP / File
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Just days after a new surge of tension between the two countries over the question of Western Sahara, Algiers said it was "
deeply concerned
" following revelations that Algerian officials could have been spied on via this spyware.
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According to the press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Algiers denounces the large-scale use by Morocco
of the Israeli software Pegasus
against "
Algerian citizens and officials
" with a practice deemed "
illegal, unwelcome and dangerous
". The text strongly condemns this systematic "
inadmissible
" attack on fundamental freedoms and reserves the right to "
implement its response strategy
" without further details.
According to the survey by the Forbidden Stories consortium and Amnesty International, 6,000 Algerian phones have been identified as potential targets of the Pegasus software.
Among the people targeted: senior political, military and intelligence officials, including the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramtane Lamamra, as well as the current and former chief of staff of the army.
The official Algerian press agency, APS, indicates that for its part, the Algiers prosecution has ordered the opening of a preliminary investigation against "
criminal offenses repressed and an attack on communications secrets
".
A case that comes as relations between the two have been particularly strained in recent days.
On Sunday, in fact,
Algiers had recalled its ambassador to Rabat
because of the dispute over Western Sahara.
A reminder follows a meeting of non-aligned countries, where the Moroccan delegation had distributed a note supporting the right to self-determination of the “Kabyle people” in Algeria.
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Algeria
Morocco
Pegasus