Algeria suspends flights to and from neighboring Morocco

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria has closed its airspace to all Moroccan planes in the latest escalation of diplomatic tensions between the two North African neighbors. Algeria’s High Council for Security announced the decision Wednesday following a meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and top officials. The council cited Moroccan “provocations and hostile practices” to justify the measure. Both countries have a sizable expat community of the other’s citizens, who will suffer discomfort as a result of the measure. There are normally some 15 transit flights a day between Morocco and Algeria.  Last month, Algeria severed diplomatic ties with Morocco. Algeria had cited Morocco’s support for the “supposed right to self-determination” of the Kabyle Indigenous people of Northern Algeria.