On Algeria’s self-determination double speak

Morocco has exposed Algeria’s double speak in defending obsolete options in the Sahara issue with the aim to serve its own anti-Moroccan agenda, saying Algiers had better apply its definition of self-determination at home.

This came in a letter to the UN Security Council by Moroccan representative to the UN Omar Hilale, who denounced Algeria’s use of a UN Security Council meeting convened by Sierra Leone to put forward allegations on the Sahara issue.

The meeting, chaired by Sierra Leone, was about the need to increase the weight of Africa at the UN Security Council.

Algeria, instead of sticking to the agenda, preferred to rehash its own claims on the Sahara issue, while speaking of the need for self-determination which it narrowed to separatism.

In his letter, Hilale recalled resolutions 1541 and 2625 which urge respect for the territorial integrity of UN member states and recognize any freely determined political status.

While Algeria calls Morocco an occupant, Hilale said that the Lahaye verdict, UN Secretary General reports and UN Security Council resolutions have never called Morocco as such.

Hilale put Algeria in front of its own contradictions urging the country to give an example and apply self-determination to the occupied Kabyle people who endures all forms of oppression and discrimination.

Algeria, whose UN Security Council membership was endorsed by African states has chosen to advance its own anti-Moroccan agenda instead of bringing concrete proposals to the subject matter of the meeting: enhancing Africa’s presence at the Security Council.

This came following a series of diplomatic blows with two permanent UN Security members fully backing Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara territory, 29 mostly African countries with consulates in Western Sahara and a growing momentum in favor of Morocco’s autonomy option.

Finally, Hilale urged Algeria to stop its double speak and return to the UN political process table as a party to the conflict.