Saudi Arabia has displayed a flagrant bias in favor of Morocco on the conflict in Western Sahara, going so far as to suggest the relaunch of the so-called “round tables” format, which Algeria definitively rejected this Friday.
Through the voice of its ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi, the Saudi kingdom did not content itself with reiterating its support for the Moroccan monarchy in terms of the autonomy of Western Sahara. He went further.
Not only did he express Saudi Arabia’s satisfaction with “the participation of elected representatives” of the occupied Sahrawi territories, which he designated by “Moroccan Sahara” in the sessions of the C24 (committee on decolonization), he endorses Moroccan demands to involve Algeria directly in negotiations with the Polisario Front.
He spoke in favor of maintaining and continuing the format of the round tables which have already brought together Morocco, Mauritania, the Polisario, and Algeria.
Undoubtedly annoyed by Algiers’ refusal of its attempt to mediate the conflict with Morocco, Saudi Arabia has taken a new step on the path of its support for the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
Thursday, an Algerian source qualified, in a statement to TSA, the remarks of the Saudi ambassador “inadmissible”. This Friday, Algiers officially responded to the question of the round tables.
In a statement to the official APS agency, Amar Belani, a special envoy in charge of Western Sahara and Maghreb countries file, recalled that Algeria had “publicly rejected” the so-called round table format.
Algeria buries round table format
Algeria has “never committed to being part of it in the future because we believe that this format is far from constituting the ideal solution”, indicated Mr. Belani.
The Algerian diplomat underlined that “quite the contrary” this format has “become counterproductive since Morocco decided, irresponsibly and dishonestly, to use it in a miserable attempt to evade the decolonization character of the question of Western Sahara. for the benefit of an alleged regional and artificial conflict in which Algeria is a stakeholder.”
“For these reasons, we confirm our formal and irreversible rejection of this format known as round tables and we have instructed our permanent representative in New York to notify this position of the Algerian government to the president of the Security Council, asking him to circulate the note verbale in question to all members of the Council”, revealed Mr. Belani.
The “Mister” Western Sahara in the department of Ramtane Lamamra considered the risks of escalation in Western Sahara to be serious. “With the brutal breaking of the ceasefire by the Moroccan occupying forces and the illegal annexation of the buffer zone at Guerguerat in flagrant violation of military agreements, we are facing a situation of war and it must be recognized that the risks of escalation are serious,” he warned.
