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

Click to comment

Musings From Abroad

Blinken to address Gaza ceasefire and bilateral relations in Egypt

Published

17 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Concerned about rising tensions in the Middle East, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday.

During his visit, he intends to further efforts to establish a truce in Gaza and fortify relations with Egypt, according to his spokesperson. The visit by the senior US diplomat occurs at a time when the area is still on high alert because of the possibility that the Gaza War could spread, especially after Hezbollah, a militant organisation, threatened to avenge Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers around Lebanon on Tuesday.

Regarding the explosions, Israel has not answered enquiries. Nearly 3,000 people were injured, and at least nine people lost their lives.

At a routine briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that while it was too soon to determine how the events in Lebanon might impact the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, diplomacy was thought to be the most effective means of easing tensions.

Before meeting with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and other officials on Wednesday morning, Blinken met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

How we achieve a plan that we think would get support from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas truce was “squarely on the table” in Blinken’s conversations with Egyptian officials, Miller added.

For weeks, American authorities have stated that a fresh plan for a settlement that would see the release of hostages that Hamas had kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, would be made available soon.

“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” Miller said.
According to a State Department official, Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris on Thursday to meet with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, and Britain. During the meeting, they will talk about the Middle East, Ukraine, and other topics. According to the official, Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

This is the first time Blinken has skipped a stop in Washington’s closest regional ally, Israel since the Palestinian militant group Hamas started the Gaza War almost a year ago. Blinken will not be visiting Israel during this trip.

Miller explained that this was because Washington’s goal for this trip was to talk to Egypt about bilateral matters, and the proposal for a Gaza truce that the United States and its mediators have been working on was still not ready to be presented to Israel.

“So it would be premature to be presenting such a proposal, or doing any other diplomatic engagements,” he added.

In the crucial diplomatic effort to end the war, Egypt and Qatar have acted as a go-between for Hamas and Israel’s proposals and counterproposals. In an attempt to improve the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million war-torn citizens, Washington has also relied on Cairo.

In the raid on Israel last year, Palestinian militants claimed 1,200 lives and captured over 250 prisoners, according to Israeli accounts. Gaza claims that over 41,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory attack, which has essentially destroyed the territory.

Washington has sent billions of dollars into military aid to Egypt over their decades-long cooperation, even in the face of allegations of serious abuses, including torture and enforced disappearances, under Sisi’s regime. The Egyptian government refutes the charges.

Last week, Blinken lifted human rights requirements on U.S. foreign military assistance to Egypt, allowing the entire $1.3 billion for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, signalling Cairo’s growing prominence.

After promising to prioritise human rights in U.S.-Egypt relations, Seth Binder, director of advocacy for the Middle East Democracy Centre in Washington, stated that the Biden administration has “completely abandoned any pretence that human rights matter to the relationship.”

Musings From Abroad

3 Americans sentenced to death in DR Congo for thwarted coup

Published

3 days 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.