Algeria Infuriated Towards Morocco’s Reaction to the African PSC Report on Sahara

Morocco’s statements regarding the recent report of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union on the Moroccan Sahara issue infuriated Algeria, which came out again to attack, and to defend the intervention of the African Union in the Moroccan Sahara issue alongside the UN track to resolve this artificial conflict.

Last Monday evening, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sabri Boukadoum, described the recent decision of the PSC on Moroccan Sahara as “very important”, defending the intervention of the continental organization by saying that “the United Nations is not the only one in charge of the conflict.”

Boukadoum added that the Council took the initiative to accompany the United Nations in the path towards settling the conflict of Sahara, highlighting that the United Nations body “is not the only one in charge of settling the conflict, but, also, the African Union, which today has taken back the issue, which concerns before anything two African countries, and two members of the African Union”, referring to the “phantom republic”, and the Kingdom of Morocco.

In this regard, the Algerian minister reiterated that the decision is a “gain in the direction of restoring peace in North Africa.”

In response to a question about Morocco’s rejection of the decision of the African Council, Boukadoum considered that the last decision is “sovereign for all African member states, not just one country.”

It is noted that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, announced, last Friday, that Morocco is “not interested” in the statement issued following the meeting of the PSC, which was held on the issue of Moroccan Sahara.

Bourita considered that “the statement of the Peace and Security Council is an event of no significance for Morocco, which continues its work with the African Union within the framework of Resolution 693 of the Union”, adding that “the communication – the statement issued by the Council – is the result of maneuvers and breaches that marred the procedure of approval.”

The minister also stressed that “Morocco is satisfied that the majority of the members of the Peace and Security Council, as well as the African Union Commission, are loyal to legitimacy, by defending, during the Council’s summit on March 9th, the validity and relevance of Resolution 693 of the African Union, as it is the only framework for the union to follow up on the Saharan issue.”

In a statement, the PSC called for direct and frank negotiations between Morocco and the separatist Polisario Front, while the African Union previously issued Resolution 693 at the Nouakchott summit in 2018, and affirmed the exclusive jurisdiction of the United Nations to solve the Sahara issue, while establishing a Troika mechanism to support the efforts of the United Nations to settle this conflict.