Attajdid: Algeria Islamist leader calls Sahara issue artificial
Algeria-Morocco, Politics, 12/15/2003

Leader of the Algerian outlawed party, Islamic Salvation Front, Abbasi Madani, said the Sahara issue is an "artificial" one that is part of a colonial plan whose seeds were sown by western colonialists.

Madani told Moroccan Islamic-leaning "Attajdid" daily the persistence of the problem is an "abnormal situation that has no reason to exist, because our (Moroccan and Algerian) interests are converging and interests are the same.

The Algerian politician was referring to the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara and to Algerian support to the secessionist Polisario movement that claims the independence of the territory, retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under a tripartite agreement with Spain (the former colonial power) and Mauritania.

Madani, whose party was dissolved by Algerian authorities, also stressed that the border issue between the two states is also an abnormal dispute, insisting that the late King Mohammed V (grandfather of King Mohammed VI) had been a staunch champion of the liberation movement in Morocco.

"Our affection toward our Moroccan brothers is a virtue that bears testimony to the depth of our bonds, in the past, in the present and in the future," he went on, recalling how Morocco stood by Algeria and supported its liberation revolution against (French) colonizers.

Madani also argued that the future will be endangered without union, insisting that the two states have always been tied by a shared destiny.

Regarding the Moroccan political experience, he said Morocco is "a pillar of the Islamic Ummah, thanks to its creative genius."

Madani, who had floated an initiative to get his country out of the crisis, explained that the proposal was not a partisan one and does not have any ideological or religious connotation, but it was rather meant to end the bloodshed and reach a radical and earnest way out of the political problematic" in his country.

Previous Stories:
  Saharan NGOs denounce Polisario abuses   (12/11/2003)
  King's call for dialogue over sahara issue, a strong message, says Palacio   (12/9/2003)
  No solution to Sahara dispute without dialogue between Algiers and Rabat   (12/9/2003)
  Algerian salvation front initiative to end violence   (11/13/2003)
  Madani calls for reconciliation, halting violence   (9/26/2003)

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