Rabat – Algeria’s regime has again been caught red-handed disseminating false information regarding Rwanda’s alleged support for the Polisario Front’s separatist agenda in Western Sahara.
The regime’s mouthpiece media echoed disinformation in which the separatist group claimed that President Paul Kagame had reaffirmed Kigali’s support for its self-determination and referendum claims in recent comments.
Pro-Polisario websites, including Algeria’s regime press agency, claimed that the comments came while President Kagame and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, exchanged views on tensions and conflicts in Africa. During that exchange, they claimed, both leaders stressed their allegedly shared “support for the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination through a free, fair, and transparent referendum.”
Yet these claims were clearly and directly refuted by Kigali merely hours after the Polisario press and Algeria’s news agency had run their reports, once again dealing another setback to Algeria’s besieged and increasingly exposed narrative on the Sahara dispute.
In stark contrast to the statement reported by the Algerian state media, Kagame’s official website published a communique detailing his remarks with no explicit or implicit mention of Rwanda’s support for the Polisario.
To Algeria’s dismay, this reflects a direct contradiction to the Algerian regime’s disinformation campaign seeking to challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces.
The embarrassing move further exposes Algeria’s growing desperation to derail Morocco’s deepening momentum on the Sahara dispute. The Moroccan Autonomy Plan has gained massive international backing over the past few years and months, with a growing cohort of countries applauding the Moroccan proposal as the most serious and credible political roadmap to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
The latest such backing came from one of the UN Security Council’s Permanent members, the UK, which on Sunday expressed its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan as the most viable path to a lasting and politically realistic resolution of the lingering territorial dispute.
While Rwanda is one of the few countries that still recognizes the self-styled SADR, the country does not embrace Algeria’s consistently combatively anti-Moroccan narrative and attitude.
In fact , following King Mohammed VI’s historic visit to Rwanda in 2016, Rabat and Kigali have constantly pledged to strengthen relations at many levels. In particular, discussions have explored the need to expand bilateral ties on agriculture, trade, and high-level political cooperation on a wide range of strategic challenges facing the continent.
The two countries signed several agreements during the royal visit, including a Memoranda of Understanding on a political consultation mechanism, an air service agreement, an agreement on the exemption of visas, and a deal on security cooperation and tourism.
In recent years, the two countries have constantly stressed the importance of maintaining or improving their bilateral cooperation at all levels. This new spirit of mutual support was particularly on display when Rwanda supported Morocco’s return to the African Union in 2017.
This latest fabricated news from the Algerian and Polisario media shows their desperation to undermine Morocco’s growing momentum in the Sahara dossier.
However, as more and more countries embrace the Moroccan autonomy proposal as the best chance for peace and prosperity in the region, or simply recognise Morocco’s historical legitimacy, many observers believe that Algeria’s constant attempts to challenge Morocco’s growing momentum will not restore the prestige and legitimacy the exposed Algerian narrative once enjoyed.
