Musings From Abroad

France supports Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara

Published

2 months ago

August 1, 2024

President Emmanuel Macron of France has stated in a letter that the only viable solution to the long-standing territorial conflict is a plan for autonomy for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan authority.

The 1975 conflict opposed the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which wanted to establish an independent state in Western Sahara, against Morocco, which views the region as its own.

As the former colonial power in the area, France has handled the situation diplomatically by balancing between Rabat and Algiers. Morocco’s initiative has the support of the majority of France’s Western friends.

Algeria was so incensed by the decision that it chose to remove its ambassador from France and assign the charge d’affaires to oversee Algeria’s diplomatic representation, as stated in a statement from the country’s foreign ministry.

“For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue must be resolved,” according to the letter sent by Macron to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

“Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant. For France, it now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in line with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”

Macron declared that France would behave both internally and internationally under its conviction that Morocco’s sovereignty extends to the Western Sahara.

Regarding the declaration, the Moroccan Royal Palace welcomed it as a “significant development in support of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.”

“The French government is denying the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination,” the foreign ministry of Algeria declared.

The recall of Algeria’s envoy, according to a French diplomatic source, was a sovereign decision, but Paris was committed to strengthening bilateral relations with Algiers.

“We are looking to the future with a strong ambition to benefit both our peoples,” stated a source.

Algeria has supported a 1991 United Nations plan for a referendum with independence as a possible outcome, as well as the Polisario’s self-declared Sahrawi republic.

Conflicts about who should vote and how the referendum should be held prevented that referendum from happening, and more recently, resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council have urged the parties to cooperate to reach a workable compromise rather than bring up the subject of a referendum.

The former colonial power of Western Sahara, Spain, declared in 2022 that it supported Morocco’s desire for autonomy.

Rabat regards the opening of consulates by 28 largely African and Arab nations as tangible support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the region, which is also backed by the United States, Israel, and the monarchies of the Arab world. 2020 saw the Polisario pull out of a truce mediated by the UN.

Israel recognized and supported Morocco’s claim to the Sahara two weeks ago, despite Algeria, Morocco’s neighbour, who opposes and calls the region’s claims an international infringement. In 2020, the United States, then led by President Donald Trump, acknowledged Morocco’s territorial claims in exchange for Morocco reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

In all, 28 foreign countries—mostly Arab and African ones—have opened consulates there as an outward symbol of their backing for Rabat.

Related Topics:Featured France Morocco Western Sahara

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Musings From Abroad

3 Americans sentenced to death in DR Congo for thwarted coup

Published

1 day ago

September 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A military court has sentenced 37 accused persons to death for their roles in the failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, including three US nationals.

On May 19, armed men took over the presidential residence in Kinshasa for a short while until security forces assassinated their leader, Christian Malanga, a politician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was living in the US.

Marcel Malanga, his son, and Tyler Thompson, a friend of Marcel’s who played football with him in high school in Utah, were two of the Americans on trial. They’re both in their 20s.

Christian Malanga’s business associate Benjamin Zalman-Polun was the third American.
All three received the death penalty in a decision that was read aloud on television after being convicted guilty of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, and other offences.

Malanga had already informed the court that his father had threatened to murder him if he didn’t take part. In addition, he informed the court that he was going to Congo for the first time at his father’s invitation—a relationship he had not had in a long time.

After the failed coup, some fifty individuals, including citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Belgium, and the Congo, are awaiting prosecution. Thirty-seven offenders received death sentences.

The decision was announced in the courtyard of the military jail Ndolo, which is located outside of Kinshasa, beneath a tent. The defendants, dressed in prison-issue blue and yellow tops, were seated in front of the judge.

July marked the start of the trial. Ambassador personnel were present at the proceedings, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in Washington, and they will keep a careful eye on any further developments.

“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision,” he told a briefing.

Jean-Jacques Wondo, a citizen of Belgium and Congo, is one of the 37 defendants. Before the trial, Wondo’s family made video messages to Congo President Félix Tshisekedi pleading for his release.

Musings From Abroad

US backs 2 permanent seats for Africa in Security Council

Published

3 days ago

September 13, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

United States Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is set to announce the position that the US favours giving two permanent seats to African states in the Security Council, and one seat that would be rotated among small island developing states.

The action is being taken as the US looks to strengthen its relationships with Pacific Island countries that are crucial to fending off Chinese influence in the area and mend fences with Africa, where many people are upset over Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

The declaration, which Thomas-Greenfield described as a part of US President Joe Biden’s legacy, is intended to “move this agenda forward in a way that we can achieve Security Council reform at some point in the future,” she told journalists.

In addition to Washington’s long-standing support for India, Japan, and Germany to also receive permanent seats on the council, there is a drive for two permanent African members and a rotating seat for small island developing states.

Developing countries have long sought seats on the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body, permanently. However, years of reform negotiations have yielded little results, and it’s uncertain if US backing could spur action.

Thomas-Greenfield made it clear to Reuters ahead of the Council on Foreign Relations’ announcement in New York on Thursday that Washington opposes the extension of the veto power beyond the five nations that now possess it.

The Security Council is responsible of upholding global peace and security and is vested with the authority to employ force, impose sanctions, and enforce arms embargoes.

There were eleven members of the Security Council at the UN’s founding in 1945. In 1965, the number of members rose to 15, consisting of five permanent veto-wielding nations (the US, Britain, China, Russia, and France) and ten elected governments serving two-year terms.