Algeria’s diplomacy suffers from ‘schizophrenia’, Moroccan diplomat says

Algeria is stuck in a logic of permanent conflict and its diplomacy suffers from a “schizophrenic pathology”, said Morocco’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, about the North African country’s obsession with the Sahara issue.

Responding before the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly to the attacks of his Algerian counterpart, Amar Benjama, the Moroccan diplomat denounced Algeria’s double talk: “On the one hand, it claims to be neutral, it claims that it is not a party (to the Sahara conflict), but on the other hand, it gives lessons and it challenges our committee without ever addressing the Security Council.” He noted the “weird” attitude of Algiers that seems to avoid discussions at the Security Council, which remains responsible for decisions on the Sahara issue.

“The Security Council is the body that upholds international law and negotiates the political solution. But Algeria prefers to ignore this body, just as it ignores the interventions that have resonated in our Committee over the past ten days,” the Moroccan diplomat said, deploring the Algerian ambassador’s tendency to like “the show”.

Omar Hilale then dismantled the Algerian argument on the so-called existence of a “Sahrawi people”. “What people? There are no Sahrawi people. There are Sahrawi populations, some of whom are locked up in the Tindouf camps, controlled by the polisario militias and the Algerian army,” he said ironically.

He challenged his Algerian counterpart to clarify the term “people,” a definition that even the African Union Human Rights Commission has failed to clearly determine.

Regarding the issue of self-determination raised by Benjama, the Moroccan diplomat retorted: “The Algerian ambassador is so obsessed with Morocco that he ignores the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, which provides for popular consultation at the end of the negotiations.” “This initiative, which is backed by the Security Council, is for Morocco the only way towards a consensual, sustainable, pragmatic political solution based on compromise, as recommended by this Council,” he argued.

In this regard, he underlined that “it is only thanks to the round tables and the commitment of the four parties that this region will be able to find peace and stability.” “Meanwhile, Morocco resolutely continues its path of development of the Moroccan Sahara region and lets Algeria bark”, Hilale stated.