Morocco’s turn to back up separatist movements in Algeria?

Casablanca- Perhaps it is Morocco’s turn to back up separatist movements in Algeria, just as the Algerian regime has been doing over three decades in the southern provinces of the kingdom.

Why not? Morocco’s territorial integrity is supposed to be as sacred as that of Algeria. Our neighboring country invests, or rather wastes, huge amounts of money  to support the so-called  Polisario Front, turning its back to its citizens whose right to the country’s immense hydrocarbon wealth is obviously violated.

Morocco has the inalienable right to use all its available means to defend its sovereignty, including resorting to reciprocity. It is, therefore, urgent for the country’s officials to alter their stance regarding calls for independence in the Kabilya and probably the southern desert of Algeria.

Reciprocity is considered a universally accepted principle of international law that applies in international relations, under which a state adopts a given behavior symmetrical in response to that adopted by another state.¹

While reciprocity is normally found at the center of  international  trade agreements, it has been used repeatedly during conflicts between countries. Surprisingly enough,  the logic of reciprocity has not been adopted by Morocco in response to Algeria’s tendency to back  a fictional republic in the southern provinces  of the kingdom.

 Moroccan authorities could perhaps consider following these points: 

–Morocco could support a declaration of the establishment of the state  of Kabilya.

–The temporary government based in Paris could move to  Rabat. An embassy of the republic could also be hosted.

–Morocco’s prime minister could congratulate his Kabilyan counterpart on every occasion of the declaration following the republic’s birth.

–Moroccan diplomats could defend the right of Kabilyans for self-determination and independence during international conferences.

–Morocco’s diplomacy  could also convince other countries around the world to recognize the nascent country and its right to occupy a seat in the African Union.

–The country’s activists may  set up a national committee for solidarity with Kabilyan people.

–Morocco’s media could devote considerable time for Kabilyan  issue.

Only then will Algeria’s regime think twice before engaging in any hostile actions. Only then will the neighboring generals in Algeria begin to promote a more conciliatory stance on the issue of Morocco’s southern provinces. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy

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Source :

http://odeenishmaeldiplomacy.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/41-reciprocity-in-international-relations/