Algeria's Grand Plan in North Africa

: ADIL NAJI; 11/26/09

Ms. Aminatou Haidar, a Western Sahara separatist, who was accompanied by two Spanish reporters, was denied entry to Morocco for failure to properly fill its immigration forms, on November 13th.
Ms. Haidar listed “Sahrawi” as her nationality and “Western Sahara” as her country of origin even though she was traveling with a Moroccan passport. In fact, she rejected her citizenship voluntarily.
Mrs. Aminatou Haider has signed in the presence of her family members and of her own free will official documents renouncing her Moroccan nationality and citizenship. She has violated the law and claimed a nationality that is not recognized by both the U.N. and Morocco.
No surprise, then, as to why she was not allowed to enter the country.

Mrs. Aminatou Haider, who holds a Spanish residency permit, departed Morocco and returned to the Canary Islands, Spain, where she has refused Spain’s refugee status offer and went on a hunger strike.

Ms. Aminatou Haidar, who claims to be a human rights activist, is actually working closely with the Western Sahara Separatist group, Polisario, and their backer, Algeria’s Military Regime. In Fact, She is currently working closely with Algeria’s Ambassador in Washington, Mr. Abdallah Baali , who is coordinating and funding her “human rights” lobbying activities in the US.

The goal of Ms. Aminatou Haidar, the Polisario and the Military regime in Algiers is the same. They want to neutralize Morocco’s Autonomy plan, a plan, that is considered by most major powers to be the basis for resolving the Sahara issue in a peaceful manner.
Algeria’s current lobbying through proxies such as Ms. Aminatou Haidar and others aims to keep the status Quo in the Sahara by advancing the referendum and independence as the only option.
In the minds of Algeria’s strategists, keeping Morocco mired in the current situation costs it substantial resources and mitigates any resistance that morocco would pose to Algeria’s ambition to become a regional power in North Africa. Algeria’s long-term objective is to secure access to the Atlantic ocean through a client “state” such as a "Sahrawi Republic" in the disputed region.
Algeria and polisario’s plan for an independent state in southern morocco is a non-starter.

A state in southern morocco constitutes an existential threat to both Morocco and its leadership. Most independent analysts dismiss such an option because it would destabilize the entire North African Region, hasten a military conflict between the two protagonists, empower a new generation of terrorist groups and unleash an unprecedented wave of refugees on European southern shores.

Ms. Aminatou Haida’s supporters, such as The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Right’s Kerry Kennedy are either naïve, narrow focused or in agreement with Algeria’s grand strategy for North Africa.

Last November, the US secretary of State Hilary Clinton attended a forum on the future of the Middle East & North Africa, in Marrakech, Morocco where she reaffirmed the US longstanding policy that supports the autonomy plan for the Saharan provinces under Moroccan sovereignty as the only realistic solution to end the 34 years old conflict.
The Algerian press sharply criticized secretary Clinton’s statements in a wave of misogynistic criticism and the Western Sahara separatist group, Polisario, has accused US secretary of State Hilary Clinton of ... misstating the US policy on the Sahara conflict.

In 2006, Morocco has offered an autonomy plan for Western Sahara as a solution to end the conflict and provide a future for thousands of refugees, now, living in desperate conditions in Algeria’s desert camps.

In addition, Morocco has initiated major reforms to build sustainable economical development to counter poverty and violence, it has implemented a new family code that was hailed by most women rights groups worldwide as unique in the Muslim World, it has established the committee of equity and reconciliation to investigate and settle past cases of human rights violations.
The Moroccan autonomy plan was backed by a majority in the US congress and praised by many European countries and was considered by the UN as a basis for a peaceful solution.

Ms. Aminatou Haidar, who is hailed by her supporter as a human rights defender, is actively working with Algeria and the polisario to torpedo the current UN peace negotiations with Morocco. She is financed by Algeria’s billion dollars oil bonanza that is currently being mismanaged by the Algeria’s generals while Algerian citizens are mired in countless underdevelopment problems.
Ms Aminatou Haidar is in fact working hard to keep the Sahrawi refugees, who are stranded in the Algerian desert camps, for another twenty five years in the same conditions, while she and her fellow polisario cohorts, jet around the world and enjoy luxury VIP treatment.

Given the current political situation between Morocco, Algeria and the polisario, Mrs. Aminatou Haider's behavor is an unacceptable provocation.

^{_{Adil Naji is a board Member of the Moroccan American Coalition, a Nationwide Network that is dedicated to the advancement of Moroccan Americans.}}

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Comments (101)

0 #1 vey informatif — Ali Amranni 2009-11-26 09:39

Ageria should join Morocco in creating a peaceful environment in the region and focuss on improving their citizens life. One has the resouces , the other has the will to change things .They would be great partners.