ALGIERS: Algeria said Thursday it was cutting diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates following years of tension, with Algiers accusing Abu Dhabi of interfering in national and regional affairs.

"Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, following the exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral relations," Algeria's state television announced.

Algiers said it was giving the UAE ambassador to Algeria 48 hours "to comply with the decision".

President Abdelmajid Tebboune has often referred to the UAE in speeches as a "micro-state" or "statelet" seeking to destabilise several countries in the region.

"Wherever they set foot, blood flows," he said in a televised interview in July, adding that the UAE 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 break "would have happened long ago" had Algeria not sought to avoid "deepening divisions" in the Arab world.