Algeria – Algeria expressed, on Thursday, its “great regret and strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to “recognize the autonomy plan for the Sahara region within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.”
This came in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which it announced that the Algerian authorities “were informed of the content of this decision by their French counterparts in recent days,” while no official announcement was issued by Paris regarding a change in its position on the issue of the Sahara region.
The Sahara issue began in 1975, after the Spanish occupation ended its presence in the region, and the conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front turned into an armed conflict that continued until 1991, and stopped with the signing of a ceasefire agreement.
Morocco proposes broad autonomy in the Sahara region under its sovereignty, while the Polisario calls for a referendum on self-determination, a proposal supported by Algeria, which hosts refugees from the region.
The statement explained that the Algerian government “took note with great regret and strong condemnation of the unexpected, unsuccessful and useless decision taken by the French government to provide explicit and unambiguous support for the autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.”
Unlike the United States, which announced its recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara region in 2020, France has not expressed a clear position on the controversial issue with Algeria.
The statement considered that “the French decision is the result of suspicious political calculations (which it did not explain), unethical assumptions, and legal readings that are not based on any sound foundations to support or justify them.”
He stated that what increases the unacceptability of this decision is that it is issued by a permanent member of the Security Council, which is supposed to act in accordance with the decisions of this body in particular, and in accordance with international legitimacy in general.
The statement concluded by stressing that “the Algerian government will draw all conclusions and consequences arising from this French decision and will hold the French government alone fully and completely responsible for it.”
The United Nations has been seeking understandings with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario Front in search of a final solution to the conflict over the region, since the signing of the ceasefire agreement.
Anatolia
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2024-07-27 16:48:33