Algeria decided to break diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as the “exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral ties,” Algerian state media said on Thursday. State media later said the decision was a result of what they described as “provocative and hostile actions” by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Algiers said it was giving the UAE ambassador to Algeria 48 hours “to comply with the decision.” In the past, the Algerian media has harshly criticized the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of trying to sow regional discord. Last year, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his country’s relations with all but one Gulf state were warm, in a thinly veiled reference to the United Arab Emirates. He described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as “brotherly”, while accusing the unnamed country of meddling in Algeria’s internal affairs and trying to destabilize it. Tensions increased further in February, when Algeria began the process of canceling an air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates that was signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013. Tebboune has often referred to the United Arab Emirates in his speeches as a “microstate” or “small state” seeking to destabilize several countries in the region. “Wherever they set foot, blood flows,” he said in a televised interview in July, adding that the United Arab Emirates has had a “very negative impact.” “We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country,” he added. At the time, Tebboune said a diplomatic rift “would have happened a long time ago” if Algeria had not tried to avoid “deepening divisions” in the Arab world. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)