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Sahara occidental-Union africaine: l’axe Alger-Pretoria pour contrer le duo Rabat-Tel Aviv
Au sein de l’Union africaine, la République arabe sahraouie démocratique (RASD) bénéficie du soutien de l’Algérie et de l’Afrique du Sud face aux pressions exercées par le Maroc. Alger et Pretoria mènent également le front des pays qui...
fr.sputniknews.com
Western Sahara-African Union: Algiers-Pretoria axis to counter the Rabat-Tel Aviv duo
11:43 18.11.2021 (Updated: 16:10 18.11.2021)
Within the African Union, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) enjoys the support of Algeria and South Africa in the face of pressure from Morocco. Algiers and Pretoria are also leading the front for countries that oppose granting observer status to Israel, which has become Morocco's strategic partner.
The Algerian and South African governments have renewed their support for the Polisario Front on the occasion of the visit to Algiers of Naledi Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa. Naledi Pandor and Ramtane Lamamra, his Algerian counterpart, declared that the two countries support "the right of peoples to self-determination and give their firm support to Western Sahara".
On the question of the right to self-determination of Western Sahara, the Algiers-Pretoria axis has been on the alert since Morocco's return to the African Union (AU) in January 2017. Morocco, which had left the Organization of African Unity (OAU) 32 years ago, sign a strategic return to hamper the actions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) which is a founding member of the AU.
Since this summer, Rabat has launched a new offensive by advocating for Israel's retention as an observer member of the African Union. Status secretly granted on July 22, 2021 by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the AU Commission.
Lobbying:
It is following pressure from Algeria and South Africa that the question of maintaining Israel will be submitted to Heads of State at the next AU summit scheduled for February 2022. He It is useful to recall that Israel had the status of observer member within the OAU, but lost it during the creation of the African Union, in July 2002, at the Durban summit.
Algiers and Pretoria have repeatedly denounced the "muddy game" of the chairman of the AU Commission. "Moussa Faki Mahamat operates on behalf of Israeli and Moroccan lobbies through his chief of staff, the Mauritanian diplomat Mohamed El Hacen Ould Lebatt. He was even dangled with the possibility of becoming the next secretary general of the UN," explains to Sputnik an Algerian diplomat.
It remains to be seen whether Algiers and Pretoria will have the capacity to prevent Israel from returning to the African organization? Malainin Lakhal, SADR ambassador to Botswana, is convinced of this.
"These two great African powers can face this Moroccan-Israeli approach which targets the African continent through its continental organization. This initiative also aims at the capacity of the AU to unite and develop Africa on the basis of principles of the founding fathers of the Organization of African Unity It should also be remembered that Algeria and South Africa are not alone faced with this recolonization agenda ", indicates the Saharawi diplomat.
Malainin Lakhal said that all member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as other African states share the position of Algeria and South Africa.
"Most of Morocco's support is found in West Africa. This is obviously the result of pressure from France, a colonial force in this region, and a strategic partner of Morocco," added the Saharawi ambassador.
Nigerian discretion:
While Algeria's support for the Saharawi separatists is known to all, that of South Africa is however less well known. In fact, it is the result of the close ties that have united the Polisario Front with the African National Congress (ANC) for several decades. Support for the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people is a sacred cause for the party of Nelson Mandela.
Another pivotal African Union country seems to be more low-key when it comes to supporting the Polisario Front. This is Nigeria, considered to be the central point of this continental axis which links Algeria to South Africa.
The three states have been considered the leaders of the AU since its inception, thanks in particular to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiated with the creation of the African Union. Rabat has been trying in recent years to "seduce" Abuja in order to dismantle this axis. Building a gas pipeline that would link the two countries is at the heart of their relationship.
Malainin Lakhal acknowledges that Nigeria is one of the African countries which does not openly display its support for the Polisario Front. However, he assures us that with regard to the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people "Nigeria's position is in line with the positions of the AU and the UN".
"Nigeria has maintained diplomatic relations with the SADR since the 1980s. There has been no interruption in these relations. As for discretion, it should be understood that several countries avoid speaking out on the matter except when this is necessary, in particular at the time of General Assembly or Summit ", notes the ambassador.
As an indication, Malainin Lakhal recalls that Nigeria was among the African countries which had opposed "the Moroccan-Japanese attempts to exclude the SADR from the 7th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) held in 2019 in Yokohama ".
