Morocco has 'come back with force to African scene', seminar
Morocco, Politics, 3/9/2005

Morocco has come back with force to the African scene, filling the gap caused by its withdrawal from the former Organization of the African Union (OAU) in 1984, deemed, on Tuesday, participants in a conference on the Sahara being held in Rabat.

Morocco withdrew from the then OAU, now called African Union, to protest the admission as a member of the Sahrawi republic (SADR), proclaimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario movement which claims the separation of the Moroccan Sahara from the rest of the kingdom.

Under the theme "the Moroccan Sahara and national principles," the three-day conference, that started Monday in the Moroccan capital, discussed African countries' role in the Sahara conflict and the historical aspects of this question.

University professor, Hassan Boukentar, deemed that Morocco's withdrawal from OUA was an occasion to re-assess the African policy towards the kingdom. He recalled the "new dynamic" of the Moroccan diplomacy in dealing with African issues citing the Kingdom's solidarity with African countries and its participation in peace-keeping missions in different regions of the continent.

Echoing him, Pr. Khalid Naciri, said that OUA behaved in a suspicious way with regard to the Sahara question, considered, during the Cold War era, as an ideological issue.

Noting that the (Hague-based) International Court of Justice (ICJ) had recognized allegiance ties, throughout history, between the Sahara population and the monarchs in Morocco, Naciri said "the African community did not understand the true meaning of allegiance between the State and its subjects in the Islamic world."

The Sahara question, he went on, has turned into an ideological conflict aimed at weakening Morocco's position at the international level in favour of eastern neighbour Algeria that exploited its struggle for independence to undermine the kingdom's territorial integrity. Journalist Mohamed Ahmed Bahi, former detainee in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria) blamed the Sahara conflict on Algiers which, he explained, has come up with the slogan of "right to self-determination" after its thesis of "the Sahara is terra nullus" was foiled. This shows that Algeria's support to the Polisario separatists is not founded on any principle, he pointed out.

Bahi believes that a broadened autonomy of the Sahara is the ideal solution to put an end to the dispute.

Speaking at this conference, Guinean historian, Sidki Cobili Keita, noted that former Guinean president, late Ahmed SŽkou TourŽ, deemed SADR's entry to OAU a historical mistake and an iniquitous decision against Morocco.

He added that the late president had made important efforts to support Morocco in preserving its territorial integrity.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco to help Mauritania in artificial rain   (3/8/2005)
  Sahara is part and parcel of Morocco, former diplomat   (3/8/2005)
  Moroccan civil society calls for ending the tragedy of sequestrated Moroccans   (3/7/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search