Algeria withdraws from a meeting because of display of Morocco’s undivided map including the Sahara
An Algerian delegation withdrew from an online meeting, held in Rabat on Tuesday, April 6, by customs directors in North Africa and the Middle East.
An Algerian delegation withdrew from the Regional Meeting of General Directors of Customs in North Africa, the Near and Middle East held on Tuesday, April 6.
The decision to withdraw from the virtual meeting was made to protest the display of an undivided map of Morocco, including its Sahara, a decision that mirrors once again Algeria’s intrinsic hostility against Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Sahara.
It also shows that Algerian leaders are no longer able to hide their hostility, as they used to do before by delegating the task to their puppets, the Polisario.
The Algerian customs director protested the display of the Kingdom’s complete map in the room hosting the meeting, demanding that it be withdrawn immediately.
As his protest was not taken into consideration by the other participants, he decided to leave the meeting, Algerian media, including Echorouk News channel and Ennahar Online, reported.
Recently, the Algerian government called on its institutions to mobilize against Morocco and to protest the use of the Moroccan undivided maps internationally.
The foreign affairs ministry also urged Algerian diplomats, public officials, and even academics to protest all documents and maps that show an integral map of Morocco in all events they attend at the international level.
Actually, the display of Morocco’s undivided maps by US official websites irked Algeria.
The US State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have started using Morocco’s undivided map.
NATO also used a map of Morocco that includes the Sahara.
Therefore, the withdrawal of the meeting is not surprising as Algeria, which has suffered several setbacks and which is facing internal turmoil, seizes every opportunity to vent its hostility against Morocco.
Algeria overlooks thus its so-called neutrality and observer status in the Sahara conflict and despite all the claims of its leaders, it can no longer deny that it is indeed a stakeholder in this conflict, not to say the centerpiece of the puzzle, as recalled on Monday from Dakhla by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.
«The two real parties (to the Sahara issue) are Morocco and Algeria, » said Bourita, citing the actions of the Algerian diplomacy which has made the defense of the separatist thesis its prime foreign policy goal.
«Algeria’s diplomatic actions, mobilization and positions affirm that it is the real party, » Bourita said, noting that «The question of the Sahara is the raison d’être, of Algerian diplomacy.»
