Algeria condemns French minister’s visit to Western Sahara

The Algerian Foreign Ministry has condemned the visit by the French Minister of Culture to Western Sahara earlier this week. Rachida Dati’s visit has been said to back Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the territory.

“The visit made by a member of the French government to Western Sahara is extremely dangerous and is objectionable on multiple levels, as it reflects a blatant disregard for international legitimacy by a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” said the ministry. “This visit reinforces Morocco’s fait accompli in Western Sahara, a territory where the decolonisation process remains incomplete and the right to self-determination unfulfilled.”

Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front independence movement in the territory. Culture Minister Dati’s father was born in Morocco, while her mother was born in Algeria. The minister herself is French-born.

The Algerians said that Dati’s visit “reflects the detestable image of a former colonial power in solidarity with a new one.” The ministry also claimed that the French government is “further disqualifying itself and isolating itself from UN action aimed at expediting a settlement of the Western Sahara conflict based on strict respect for international law.”

French recognition of the Moroccan autonomy plan as the sole basis for a solution in Western Sahara was the source of a major diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Paris. In its approach to the solution, Algeria defends the right of the Sahrawis to self-determination, which was expressed by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in his speech before parliament at the end of last year. His country’s position on the Western Sahara issue will not change today or in the future until the Sahrawi people are able to determine their own destiny, he insisted. Tebboune described his position as an expression of Algeria’s respect for international law and was not directed against any party.

He pointed out that the Western Sahara issue is classified in the UN as a decolonisation issue, and is being considered by the UN Decolonisation Committee. The idea of autonomy is primarily a French idea and not a Moroccan one, added Tebboune.

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