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Rabat – Algeria’s Representative to UNESCO confused Dakhla with Tata and Guelmim during a cultural conference presided over by Morocco’s Permanent Ambassador to the organization Samir Addahre, this week in Paris.
Although the conference focused mainly on cultural issues, Algeria’s representative at UNESCO disturbed the session and brought up Western Sahara, thereby politicizing a cultural topic.
Interrupting the session’s purely cultural focus, the Algerian minister launched into a laborious speech on the issue of the region’s autonomy. “The Dakhla territories are non-autonomous Western Sahara territories,” he said.
“The territories of Western Sahara are non-self-governing territories where the process of economization is not fully completed,” the Algerian representative continued.
Read also: Morocco Exposes Algeria’s Reluctance to Shoulder Responsibility in Western Sahara Dispute
Responding to the Algerian representative’s off-topic intervention, Morocco’s Permanent Ambassador to UNESCO Samir Addahre said: “It’s a pity that I have to respond to the intervention of Algeria which spoke of non-politicization.”
“I don’t know who politicized this debate if not Algeria unfortunately once again. It makes me smile because the Algerian obsession [with the Sahara] unfortunately made you mishear what we said,” Addahre added.
“First of all, the Sahara is a Moroccan territory,” he continued, adding that although the Algerian minister referred to it as Western, “it is Moroccan.”
“Secondly, we did not talk about Dakhla, we talked about Tata, Mr. Delegate of Algeria. We did not talk, at any time, about Dakhla,” Addahre noted, reminding the delegate that the two regions mentioned were Guelmim and Tata, the latter of which is not located in the Sahara.
“Third, it is astonishing that a state that says it is not a party to this artificial conflict is the only one to speak out on this issue, once again proving that you are the main party unfortunately to this artificial conflict that you have maintained for 50 years,” the Moroccan permanent ambassador at UNESCO added.
Read also: Western Sahara: UNSG Report Shatters Algeria’s ‘Observer’ Claims
Algeria has repeatedly denied its responsibility as a main party in the Western Sahara dispute.
Although Morocco has launched a series of dialogue initiatives calling on Algeria to engage in the Western Sahara dispute, the latter continues denying its involvement, claiming that it is only an “observer” and that the solution to the dispute should be discussed between Morocco and Polisario.
However, a report submitted to the Security Council by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on October 3 insists that no solution can be made without the involvement of “all concerned parties,” including Algeria.
In September this year, the UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura failed once again to convince Algeria to shoulder its responsibility and participate in the series of talks that were scheduled on September 6.
At the UNESCO conference, Addahre said the country’s territorial integrity is a “red line” for Morocco, while also recalling Algeria’s interference in the Western Sahara dispute for years now.
“Dakhla is an integral part of Moroccan territory whether you like it or not. There is a UN process. You are asked to leave and let the United Nations do its job,” Addahre went on
“We are not even talking about politics. We are talking about intangible cultural heritage and you allow yourself to intervene once again on issues related to territorial integrity,” the Moroccan diplomat concluded.
