Press highlights intense diplomatic moves on Sahara issue
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 7/21/2004

The Moroccan press highlighted Tuesday intense diplomatic moves between Rabat, Algiers, Madrid and Paris in a bid to settle the three-decade long Sahara conflict.

"Aujourd'hui le Maroc" underlined "unprecedented diplomatic to-ings and fro-ings" to resolve the Sahara dispute opposing Rabat to Algiers. This latter is backing the Polisario separatists who are claiming the secession of Morocco's southern provinces, known as the Sahara.

The Moroccan daily points out to the existence of a "plan sponsored by Zapatero," the Spanish Prime Minister.

This fresh dynamic, aiming to bring closer viewpoints of parties in the conflict, "would not succeed should the stance of Madrid remain unchanged," wrote the paper.

The new Spanish government led by the Socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had "the courage to give up the policy of neutrality adopted by its predecessors during the latest 30 years," the paper argued.

The newspaper deemed that the goal of these intense diplomatic moves is to break the deadlock over the Sahara question, that has been hampering the development in the region for over a quarter of a century, and hindering the building of a Maghreban economic space.

On its part, "L'Opinion" deemed that the basic question that is posed is whether Algerian leaders will end up by answering positively the clear requests of their partners who are calling for a direct dialogue with Morocco, or whether they will go on impeding the construction of the Maghreb Arab Union (UMA).

The development of this regional grouping, set up in 1989 between five Maghreban countries (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) has been hindered for several years essentially because of the strained relations between Rabat and Algiers.

"Algeria knows very well that the construction of the Maghreb can not be carried out to the detriment of Morocco's right to territorial integrity, and that normalisation between Rabat and Algiers goes necessarily through a final solution to the artificial conflict over the Sahara," the daily noted.

For "L'Opinion," the "time of illusions is over. Reality should be faced and burying one's head in the sand, as does Algeria, should be given up."

On the other hand, "Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki" newspaper opined that the launching of the Maghreb project is no longer a problem of a diplomatic or economic dimension but a "question of life or death for people in the region."

"The egoism of some leaders has bad repercussions on the future of peoples in the region," it deplored.

Previous Stories:
  New family visit exchange between Southern Morocco and Tindouf camps (Algeria)   (7/17/2004)
  Settling Sahara conflict requires frank dialogue between Rabat and Algiers, Minister   (7/16/2004)
  Morocco ready to negotiate Sahara issue if its sovereignty is respected, PM   (7/9/2004)

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