ISLAMABAD – Algeria Withdraws Ambassador from France on Western Sahara Issue,The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria has withdrawn her ambassador back and has decided to reduce the level of presence in France. Mr. Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, held a press conference on July 31, 2024, on France’s position in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, within the framework of the autonomy plan, through a letter from the French President to the King of Morocco, on the occasion of Throne Day on July 30, 2024.
“The Algerian diplomatic representation in France is now the responsibility of a charge d’affaires,” the Algerian foreign ministry was quoted as saying by the official news agency APS. The ministry denounced Macron’s statement as a “step that no other French government had taken before.”
Minister Ahmed Attaf recalls the signs of the French move and the attempt to pave the way and justify it in advance, through what the French President confirmed on June 13 in his justifications and explanations to the President of the Republic Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune in advance during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in the Italian city of Bari.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune responded to this by saying, “The new French position is not just a copy of previous positions, but goes far beyond them, as it focuses on the exclusivity of the autonomy plan as a basis for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, “explicitly recognizes the so-called “Moroccanness of Western Sahara”, and “explicitly includes the present and future of Western Sahara within the framework of alleged Moroccan sovereignty.”
Regarding the repercussions of the French step and its consequences on the Western Sahara issue and on peace and security in our region, the minister says that “the French step, which claims to aim to revive the political process to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara, contributes, on the contrary, to perpetuating the state of stagnation that the political process has been suffering from for nearly two decades.This state of stagnation was directly caused by the autonomy plan presented by Morocco”
This Moroccan proposal has never aimed, even for one day, to make a contribution to resolving the Western Sahara conflict, quite the contrary, it aims to:
– Eliminate the right to self-determination granted internationally to the Sahrawi people by aborting the organization of a referendum for this purpose, stifling alternative political solutions and preventing the emergence of any serious and honest initiative to resolve this conflict, other than those The Kingdom of Morocco wants to legitimize the colonial status quo in Western Sahara, to gain more time to consolidate the colonial status quo and impose it on the international community and force it to adapt to it and accept it.”
Therefore, Minister Ahmed Attaf wonders: “How could this proposal have survived for more than 17 years without even an hour, a minute, or even a second being allocated to discuss it?… because it was not taken seriously.” Adding, “How could this proposal, which is being presented today as the magic formula for resolving the Western Sahara issue, not receive the attention of the four UN envoys who have held this position over the past two decades?”
The minister affirms that the French step “is nothing more than a deal that is not valid legally, politically, or morally. It is a deal concluded between two parties at the expense of a third party that is oppressed, namely the Sahrawi people, the owner of the right and the owner of the cause, who have their support and shield in international legitimacy that recognized the legitimacy of their right and did them justice.”
