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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita formally informed the Arab League secretary that King Mohammed VI will not take part in the Arab League Summit, which opens today in Algeria.
Bourita, who will represent the King of Morocco, confirmed the news in an interview with Al Arabiya news channel.
The Moroccan foreign minister said that the monarch was one of the first Arab leaders to initially express willingness to participate in the event.
“The King gave his instructions that we inform all other Arab countries of his participation to encourage them to also take part in this meeting,” Bourita said.
After expressing willingness to participate, the minister said the King was following the preparatory meetings of the summit and “had several considerations,” including the “regional bilateral context.”
The regional context is marked by ongoing tensions between countries in the region, including Morocco and Algeria.
In August 2021, Algeria decided to cut diplomatic ties and close its airspace with Morocco, citing “hostile” actions from Rabat.
The accusations came as Algeria maintained its stance challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over Western Sahara. The North African country hosts, finances, and arms the Polisario front and its independence claims in Western Sahara.
Despite Algeria’s position, Morocco extended dialogue offers to break the stalemate between the two countries. King Mohammed VI has repeatedly called on Algeria’s regime to engage in a frank and direct dialogue to end the political stalemate marked by the closed borders.
Converging reports also confirmed that King Mohammed VI was ready to take part in the event.
However, many speculate that the provocation of the Moroccan delegation taking part in the summit triggered the decision to cancel the monarch’s participation.
Jeune Afrique reported on Monday that several reasons triggered the decision, including the non-appropriate reception given to the Moroccan foreign minister.
Provocative acts by Algerian media, challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity could also form a direct reason.
Over the weekend, Algerian news outlet AL24 News published a divided Moroccan map that contradicts the map adopted by the Arab League summit.
In addition, the Moroccan official media delegation also suffered “harassment” and “pressure” from Algerian authorities and security services at the Houari Boumediene airport in Algiers.
Several media representations and federations published press releases to denounce the mistreatment of Moroccan journalists at the airport, including The Moroccan Association of Media and Publishers.
The association said the official Moroccan media delegation was forced to leave the Algerian territory due to “pressure, harassment, security investigations, and long waiting hours at Boumediene Airport” in Algeria, stressing that journalists were subjected to “the most horrific types of treatment” by Algerian security services.
The Federation of Newspaper Publishers and the National Federation of Journalism, Information, and Communication echoed the same remarks, condemning the behavior of Algerian authorities towards Morocco’s press delegation.
