On Dec. 20, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Algeria’s Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia in Algiers. The two discussed strategies for strengthening Doha-Algiers ties and other regional issues, such as US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the Libyan civil war. Shortly before the chief Qatari diplomat’s visit, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika wrote to the emir of Qatar, praising Doha and Algiers’ “exceptional” relationship and vowing to boost bilateral ties to the “highest level, in the best interests of both peoples.”

The visit was another indicator of how the Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ) — Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — has failed to bring the Maghreb region’s internationally recognized governments, save Mauritania, behind its anti-Qatar campaign.

The Qatar crisis has provided Algeria an opportunity to demonstrate its value to Doha as a partner with an independent foreign policy that is capable of helping it weather the diplomatic row that has pressured Doha into turning to alternative security alliances and economic lifelines. Just after the ATQ cut off diplomatic and economic ties with Doha, Qatar praised Algeria’s “honorable” stance on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) crisis, in which Algerian officials called on all parties to resolve the dispute through dialogue before their counterparts in any other country did. Doha also hailed Algeria as a “big country” capable of playing a “role in Arab-Arab relations, thanks to its weight in the region.”

Algeria’s response to the Qatar crisis was also partially shaped by the country’s domestic politics. Although Algeria officially embraced a neutral position on the GCC’s diplomatic row, 31 Islamist parliamentarians quickly expressed solidarity with Doha via a newly formed committee. The Qatari ambassador to Algiers, Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz al-Sahlawi, has held regular meetings with this committee.