A bitter altercation took place between Morocco’s ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale, and his Algerian counterpart, Amar Bendjama, during the closing session of the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Algerian ambassador used his right of reply twice to express his astonishment at Morocco’s speech, arguing that it was attacking its minister without naming him and then drifting into the usual diatribes on the Moroccan Sahara.
In response, Ambassador Omar Hilale recalled that his speech had never mentioned Algeria, unlike the Algerian minister who had addressed the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, an integral part of the Kingdom. He ironically congratulated the Algerian ambassador for identifying with Morocco’s subliminal insinuations and for having received his messages well, citing the adage “who feels brat blows his nose” which perfectly applies to the diplomat’s reaction. Algerian.
Hilale also criticized the “intellectual terrorism” of Algeria, which claims to be able to say and do anything, but takes offense when Morocco responds to its allegations. He gave concrete examples of this hypocrisy, pointing out that the Algerian minister could talk about the United Nations Charter and the Bandung principles, but not Morocco. He recalled that Algeria could boast of Security Council resolutions, but got angry when Morocco recalled its rejection of these same resolutions.
The Moroccan ambassador also regretted the ignorance of the history of the Moroccan Sahara by the Algerian representative. He recalled that these provinces had been Moroccan for centuries until the Spanish invasion in 1884. The populations of the Moroccan Sahara pledged allegiance to the Sultan of Morocco, as they still do today. He underlined that the name โWestern Saharaโ came about much later, in relation to the Spanish occupier, and that the original geographical name was โMoroccan Saharaโ.
Ambassador Hilale said that for Moroccans, the issue of the Moroccan Sahara was a cause, while for Algeria it was an agenda of adversity, hostility and destabilization not only of Morocco, but of all. Maghreb. He called on Algeria to recognize the failure of its Polisarian project and its negative consequences on the political, humanitarian, socio-economic and geopolitical level.