Morocco’s Omar Hilale Exposes Algerian Hypocrisy on Western Sahara

Rabat – Omar Hilale, Morocco’s permanent ambassador and representative at the UN, has again roasted Algeria over its fact-free diplomatic activism and double standards regarding the Western Sahara dispute.

Hilale’s remarks came in response to Algeria’s ambassador to the UN Nadir El Arabaoui, who was recalling his country’s hostile position on Western Sahara.

Speaking earlier this week at the C24 seminar in Saint Lucia, the Algerian diplomat had made sure to renew his country’s support for the Polisario Front, yet again calling for a “self-determination” referendum over the status of Morocco’s southern provinces.

In response, Hilale exposed Algeria’s double standards on the self-determination front by noting Algiers’ determination to help realize the aspirations of “Sahrawi nationalism” in southern Morocco while crushing Kabyle nationalism in the Kabylia region in northern Algeria.

“You are asking for self-determination for the 20,000 people you are kidnapping in the Tindouf camps, but you are denying it to a people of 12 million inhabitants,” Hilale said of the glaring contradiction and hypocrisy at the heart of Algeria’s diplomatic activism in Western Sahara.

The Kabyle are a native group based in the Northeastern portion of Algeria, who have long complained of cultural and political repression within the country.

Hilale emphasized that the people in Kabylia “underwent three colonizations” from the Ottoman, French, and Algerian regimes.

“This is the longest occupation in the history of Africa,” Hilale argued, asking Algeria’s regime why it is denying the Kabyle people “self-determination” or independence while promoting and financing Polisario’s separatism in southern Morocco.

The Moroccan diplomat also refuted the Algerian ambassador’s allegations on the human rights situation in Moroccan southern provinces, recalling instead the “multiple violations” of human rights in Algeria, where “the attacks on fundamental freedom is experiencing a “dark record.”

Hilale added, “The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has increased its concerns over the persecution of Hirak activists, and massive violations of their rights, in particular, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, and unfair trials.”

In his damning, Morocco-bashing remarks at the C24 seminar, the Algerian ambassador had described Morocco’s southern provinces as a “closed prison.”

In response, Hilale recalled the opening of foreign representatives in the region and the provinces’ assets attracting foreign investments.

“You called the Sahara a closed prison. If so, why did countries open 27 consulates there? Why does the Sahara attract colossal foreign investments, because no country would invest in a closed prison? Why would diplomats, foreign delegations, and thousands of tourists flock to a closed prison?” Hilale rhetorically asked, pointing out the recent diplomatic gains Morocco secured for its position on Western Sahara.

Algerian journalist and analyst Oualid Kebir also responded to the recent claims from his country’s ambassador, saying the military regime in Algeria is the first enemy of national unity.

He called on the Algerian regime to “stop describing Morocco as the occupying power of the Moroccan Sahara” and urged President Abdelmajid Tebboune’s government to end its approach to challenging the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighboring country.

This is not the first time that Hilale has taken issue with Algeria’s double standards on the question of self-determination.

In 2021, the ambassador frustrated many in Algeria after noting the Algerian regime’s continued oppression of the Kabyle people, saying that they were suffering the “longest foreign occupation” in Africa.

Meanwhile, Algeria’s continuous undermining of Morocco’s territorial integrity comes amid an increasingly prevailing pro-Moroccan momentum. Over 20 African and Arab countries have opened their consulates in the cities of Dakhla and Laayoune, reaffirming their support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara region.

Unsurprisingly, the massive international support that Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for the Sahara region now enjoys has further dismayed an already disgruntled and cornered Algerian regime. When Spain officially endorsed the Moroccan proposal on March 18, Algeria’s furious response spoke volumes about its long-running frustration as more countries embrace Morocco’s plan as the best possible solution to the Sahara dispute

Just this week, on May 11, many other countries — — the Netherlands and Turkey, among others expressed their firm support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and Autonomy Plan, calling the Moroccan autonomy proposal the most credible and serious basis to end the dispute over Western Sahara.