ALGIERS (Reuters) — Moroccan-Algerian rivalry poses a delicate diplomatic test for French President Nicholas Sarkozy on a visit to north Africa this week aimed at boosting ties with a region increasingly important for European energy security.Sarkozy, making his first visit outside Europe since his May election, learned just how tricky his task is likely to be when Morocco last week abruptly called off the Moroccan leg of his tour complaining his two-day stay was not long enough.

Diplomats said Morocco, traditionally France’s strongest ally in North Africa, was peeved that Sarkozy was starting his visit in regional rival and growing energy power Algeria.

The Moroccan move raised eyebrows around the region, long a zone of French commercial influence and traditionally the first destination outside Europe for newly elected French presidents.

Some called it a blunder by Morocco, whose leaders have close personal ties to Sarkozy’s predecessor Jacques Chirac and enjoyed Chirac’s support on the Western Sahara dispute, the main bone of contention between Morocco and Algeria.

“To cancel the visit of a newly elected president who is very powerful and popular. ... It will have some diplomatic fallout,” said Kader Abderrahim, a Maghreb expert at the Institute of Strategic and International Relations in Paris.

“The Moroccans thought they would be able to have the same relations with Sarkozy as they had with Chirac. It’s not the case. It’s another generation which is taking over (in Paris).

“Sarkozy owes nothing either to the Moroccans or Algerians. In terms of French interests, Sarkozy sees what’s important in the medium term is Algeria, a big, strong, important country.”

Sarkozy wants to change the style of France’s Africa policy, which he has said under Chirac was a cozy network of personal ties.

Sarkozy will fly to Algiers tomorrow for a lunch with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and then go to Tunis to meet Tunisian President Zine al Abidine ben Ali. The longest part of his trip — at least two days — had been planned for Morocco.

Tunisia and Morocco, once French protectorates, are major French investment destinations. Algeria, a former French colony, is France’s top trade partner in Africa.

Sarkozy’s aides say he will explain his as yet vague plan for a Mediterranean Union — a formal partnership involving southern European countries and their North African neighbours.

In Algeria, where he plans to return in the autumn for more substantial business-focussed talks, he is also expected to raise the possibility of a tie-up between French utility Gaz de France and Algerian energy company Sonatrach.

But in Algeria, Sarkozy is unlikely to have much success in any new venture unless he can show he is willing to change France’s approach to the Western Sahara, commentators say.

France under Chirac gave quiet but determined support to Morocco’s proposal for self-rule for the territory of 260,000 people, under Moroccan sovereignty.

The Algeria-based Polisario Front independence group wants a referendum that would include the option of independence.

The Western Sahara dispute is a barrier to commerce across the Maghreb: The land borders of Morocco and Algeria, closed in 1994 amid security tensions, remain shut.

Former Algerian Prime Minister Redha Malek, whose remarks reflect official thinking on the Sahara, told Reuters Sarkozy would be judged in Algiers on his position on the dispute.

The Moroccan postponement of Sarkozy’s visit showed the delicacy of his task. “The Moroccans weren’t happy because he’s starting in Algiers. It can’t have pleased them,” he said.

“It’s a familiar (Maghreb) syndrome. There are lots of sensitivities and Sarkozy will learn how complex things are.”