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Rabat – After Brahim Ghali’s swift departure from Spain, Morocco’s foreign ministry used its diplomatic clout to block Ghali’s extraction aboard the [g]Presidential jet sent by the Algerian government. While Ghali manages to escape justice, Morocco managed to send a strong message that the aging separatist leader is not a head of state and does not belong in a presidential plane.
Ghali was scheduled to attend a virtual witness hearing in Spain’s National High Court on Tuesday, June 1. The summon forced Ghali to remain in Logrono and Spain assured Morocco that the Polisario leader would remain within its borders until after the hearing.
According to Spanish news outlet OkDiario, Ghali planned to leave ahead of his trial and attend the virtual hearing from Algeria, where Spanish justice would not be able to pursue him. Had Ghali known the extent of Spanish “justice” he likely would not have feared as a Spanish court released Morocco’s most-wanted man, citing a lack of evidence.
The Spanish publication added that the Moroccan foreign ministry had an impact on Ghali’s departure. “If Ghali departs in an opaque way, as it entered, the situation between the two countries will become even more complicated,” stated OkDiario in a paraphrased statement from the ministry.
The failure of Spanish authorities to notify Morocco over its intentions to host Ghali for perceived “humanitarian reasons” has been a key issue in the diplomatic stand-off between the two countries. The issue again manifested itself as Ghali attempted to escape to Algeria, yet in this case, Morocco was able to thwart further deception by its northern and eastern neighbors.
Spanish air traffic controllers rerouted an Algerian government aircraft over Ibiza on Tuesday and denied the plane access to Spanish airspace due to the lack of a permit. However, Spanish government officials provided the media with multiple varying excuses why the plane was coming to retrieve Ghali early.
The plane that returned Ghali also transported Algeria’s former president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, home to Algeria after a two week stay in a Swiss hospital. While Algeria is Morocco’s rival, Morocco still recognizes its national sovereignty and would recognize the need for the country’s leader to be travelling in a presidential jet. When it comes to the separatist Polisario militia, Morocco insists that its leaders cannot be treated as a head of state, even symbolically. [h]
Read also: Self-Contradiction in Spanish Government Surrounding Algerian Plane
The OkDiario report notes that Morocco’s interference in Ghali’s departure forced Algeria and Spain to devise a backup plan. Some analysts speculated whether or not Algeria fronted the bill for Ghali’s flight aboard a private airline.
The French private airline service Airlec is known for transporting wealthy individuals and also offers emergency medical services.
If Ghali were to have departed Spain aboard the Algerian presidential aircraft, his extraction would have resembled that of a high ranking foreign diplomat, a symbolic yet important gesture that Morocco could not allow.
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita was direct in his message to Spain ahead of Brahim Ghali’s trial.
“In the event that the Polisario leader leaves Spanish territory without hindrance in the same way he acceded to it, our bilateral relationship would not fail to deteriorate very sharply.”
Morocco’s distrust of Spain has grown larger as Madrid continues to slight Morocco at the highest levels of government.
In addition, Spain backed out of the US-led joint-military exercise African Lion as some of the military exercises are planned to take place in Moroccan towns within the Western Sahara region. Spain claimed it did not wish to inadvertently support Morocco’s claim to the land, but there have been reports that Morocco’s opposition to Spain’s participation forced the country’s withdrawal.
