Aljazeera recognizes Moroccanness of the Sahara

Morocco World News

New York, March 28, 2013

For the first time ever, the Doha-based Al Jazeera channel shows the Moroccan map with its Saharan provinces. The position adopted by the leading Arabic channel when reporting on the conflict was often called into question by the Moroccan government and Moroccan viewers alike who accused it of being biased towards the Polisario and prejudging the result of the stalled negotiations between Rabat and the separatist movement.

Back in 2008, the government’s decision to withdraw Al Jazeera licence to broadcast the Maghreb news bulleting from Rabat was made against the backdrop of the channel’s coverage of the issue, which was deemed by as leaning towards the position of the Polisario and Algeria.

“Al Jazeera network breached the legal boundaries within which foreign media conduct their work when covering stories, notably those that deal with Morocco’s number one issue, the Sahara, by favoring one side over the other,” former Moroccan Communications Minister Khaled Naciri told reporters after the closure of Al Jazeera office in Rabat, in an implicit indication that the network was siding with the Polisario Front.

Is it a sign indicating that Aljazeera will reopen its office in Rabat and resume broadcasting its Maghreb news bulletin?

Last October, the director of Al-Jazeera said in a statement to the Moroccan daily “ Assabah” that negotiations are underway with the Moroccan authorities for the reopening of the Al Jazeera office in Rabat, adding that it depends on the answers to some questions and how these will be addressed by the Qatari channel.