MEDI1TV Afrique : Rétrospective : Les principales évolutions du dossier du Sahara Marocain en 2024 - 25/12/2024
Category
🗞
NewsTranscription
00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:18Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this first episode of our series Retrospective 2024.
00:24A successful year for the first national cause.
00:29Achievements that have been added to the many advances in this Sahara issue on the international scene,
00:34including growing African support.
00:37And European countries, the latter of which dates from the strong and frank support of the French Republic to the Moroccan Sahara,
00:45or this unprecedented step of the Nordic countries, namely Finland, Sweden and Denmark,
00:51which marks a real historical turn in their position towards this different region.
01:03It must be noted that Morocco's policy has demonstrated its effectiveness on a territory historically allied to the separatists,
01:10namely Latin America, where Morocco's successes no longer count,
01:14without forgetting the unconditional support of the Gulf countries.
01:18And on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Sahara issue and the life of several observers,
01:232024 will certainly sound the beginning of a historic countdown,
01:28that of a definitive solution to this different region that has only lasted too long.
01:32I welcome for this special Retrospective show, the political scientist and professor of law, Prof. Mustafa Sahinouk.
01:39Good evening.
01:40Good evening.
01:41With us also, the expert in security and strategy, Colonel Hassan Saoud.
01:44Good evening.
01:45Good evening.
01:46You two gentlemen once again on this stage.
01:49A rather special year.
01:51If we were to review the achievements, of course,
01:54the time allocated for the show will not be enough.
01:57But, evoking the striking facts, the main developments of the Sahara case in 2024,
02:04Mustafa Sahinouk.
02:06First of all, globally, in the year 2024, I will summarize.
02:11The year 2024 is a great milestone.
02:16Why?
02:17Because there are the conditions in which the 2756 resolution of the Security Council was voted on,
02:27on 31 October last year, which is a fundamental achievement of the consolidation of Moroccan positions.
02:35It is an important text in two respects.
02:39In my view, it is a text that takes up, globally, too much of all the previous resolutions since 2007.
02:49Since Morocco presented the autonomy project in Africa in 2007.
02:53So, it is extremely important.
02:55It is based on a number of principles that are reaffirmed by the High Sunni Institution.
03:01In this case, a negotiated process, the support to the personal emissary in place,
03:09in this case, Staffan de Mistura, the negotiation format with parameters,
03:15that is, round tables, and then the fact that on the table there is the Moroccan initiative of April 2007,
03:25which is an initiative on internal autonomy within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.
03:31I think it is extremely important.
03:33That is to say, it is a takeover of the international community,
03:37represented by the Security Council, and the vote is interesting in this regard.
03:44The second complementary element is that Morocco is fully within the framework of the respect
03:53of the application of this resolution of the Security Council and of the previous resolutions.
03:59Morocco is not off-limits.
04:02It is concerned and committed to the application of the resolutions of the Security Council.
04:07It is in favor of everything that has been proposed.
04:11These repeated questions of the position of the neighboring state will surely come back without taking into account,
04:20I still refer to the situation of the refugees.
04:23Here is a neighboring state that welcomes tens of thousands of refugees,
04:28who refuse to identify them, to census them,
04:33so that they are refugees without any status,
04:37in violation of international conventions, including the 1951 Convention.
04:41The second point to be made in the questioning of this neighboring country
04:48is the fact that it authorizes on its territory armed militias,
04:53which are supervised by the Algerian security and military elements.
04:59There is a connection raised by the Secretary General of the United Nations
05:03on the fact that it is a home of instability and insecurity in the Sahel region.
05:09And to say that it deplores the persistence of the limitations brought by the Polisario
05:13to the freedom of movement of the military observers and the supply teams of the Minusso mission.
05:19The third element that you serve me on a plateau,
05:22is the fact that if we are respectful of the decisions of the international community as they are expressed,
05:30on the other hand, the neighboring country, Algeria, and the separatist movement are outside of international legality.
05:40I give a certain number of elements of information on this subject.
05:43For the separatist movement, it denounced the ceasefire in November 2020.
05:51Here are four years. Why November 2020?
05:53It was November 20, 2020, a week after the normalization of the circulation
05:59at the border post of Guilguilette between the Kingdom and Mauritania,
06:03where it was planned from the point of view of the separatist movement and Algiers,
06:08to set up a population base as a center of tension.
06:13So here is a separatist movement that can no longer prevail over the Security Council or its resolutions,
06:20since it rejects the ceasefire established in September 1991.
06:25The second element that this time puts in question is its sponsor, Algeria,
06:31after participating in a negotiating process planned by the Security Council
06:37and accompanied by the former Secretary-General of the United Nations,
06:43it participated in two meetings, we will never say enough.
06:47Two meetings in Switzerland, one in December 2018, the other in March 2019.
06:54It was the round table of the four.
06:57Algeria was represented by whom in these two meetings?
07:01By the Minister of Foreign Affairs in office.
07:04In December 2018, it was Abdelkader el-Sahel.
07:07In April 2019, it was Abdelkader el-Sahel.
07:09So, is quality a commitment of the State?
07:12A third meeting was planned, you know, in July 2019,
07:16which did not take place due to the resignation of Christopher Ross at the time for health reasons.
07:23So much so that we are facing a party, in this case Algeria,
07:29we are not talking about a separatist movement in Algeria,
07:32which participated in a process in Niger, validated by the Security Council,
07:36which has now fallen out of the rules of the international community.
07:43And since you kindly gave me the camera on the set that I served you a few moments ago,
07:49now, indeed, Algeria is imposing itself.
07:52And besides, it was the country that was most mentioned,
07:56at least as many times as Morocco in the last three resolutions,
08:01voted for the UN Security Council.
08:04And it is not the only camouflage suffered by the regime of Algeria, Colonel Saad.
08:11Indeed, in the resolutions that Simstaf has just spoken about,
08:14it was mentioned several times,
08:16the country concerned, Algeria, as a leading party at that time.
08:21Today, when we talk about Moroccan diplomatic success,
08:25for me, it is the Algerian diplomatic reverse.
08:30And I will start, of course, for 2024, since we are an African country,
08:37all the failures that have been suffered by Algerian diplomacy on the subject of the police.
08:46Obviously, in July 2024, the meeting of the 45th session of the Executive Committee of the African Union,
08:58which was based in Accra, Ghana, decided,
09:03with 52 votes, for the exclusion of any entity
09:11without sovereignty of all international partnerships.
09:16What is the result?
09:19They were excluded from the China-Africa forum, the USA-Africa forum,
09:27the India-Africa forum, the Turkey-Africa forum of the Arab League,
09:33where we suffered a significant camouflage,
09:37to the extent that the unanimity on the legitimacy of the question of our territorial integrity was reaffirmed, etc.
09:47Finally, also Indonesia-Africa.
09:50Exactly.
09:51Obviously, there are two important episodes left.
09:56It is 2022 and the unilateral decision of the Tunisian president,
10:01Pardison Tourloupet, to have welcomed the so-called leader of the police as a head of state.
10:10After all this, it went through a period of loss and profit, rather loss than profit,
10:18with an extraordinary camouflage for Tunisia.
10:26Today, the police can no longer operate in international institutions.
10:34Given the evolution of international law since 1975,
10:38that is to say, international law evolves,
10:41while for some, we remain a little confused about what international law was in the 1970s,
10:50given the political realities of the world at that time.
10:53And so, finally, this world bicephalous system that has changed a lot since then.
11:02How, precisely, does this evolution of international law no longer allow certain aberrations that were current 50 years ago?
11:11What you are saying reminds me of the royal discourse on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the Green March.
11:17It was clearly stated that the positions of the neighbouring countries
11:22are always formulated through a prism of past Cold War.
11:30And it was clearly stated in this discourse,
11:35really a day-to-day discourse and a strategic discourse.
11:41Our Algerian neighbours have not yet revised their mental map and their mental spirit in relation to today's situation.
11:56Today, you know, at the UN, there is a new concept that we don't exploit much,
12:03and it is called the proliferation of states.
12:06And it is an omniscient concept.
12:09Why? Because the last state that had its independence is in a catastrophic situation.
12:17And everyone is aware today that this proliferation creates corrupt states and is used by all wills of control.
12:36Today, Algeria has never been so isolated.
12:42In relation to its neighbours, the Sahel, in relation to our country, in relation to its Libyan neighbours.
12:53Europe?
12:55Europe, Spain, France.
12:57How many times do I have to remind you?
12:59They reminded their ambassador to cut commercial relations with Spain.
13:06They reminded their ambassador to Paris to come back, or not to come back, but not officially.
13:12And Latin America.
13:14Yes.
13:15Do you realize that?
13:17And I think there are good signs for 2025 that will corroborate everything that Moroccan diplomacy has achieved so far.
13:28Since you are talking about countries recognized by the UN, let's remember that more than a hundred staffers have already supported the Moroccan initiative of 2007.
13:45What has changed?
13:47Beyond the number, beyond the quantity, but the quality of the support to the national cause on the global scale and on the countries that count, and also according to their geographical distribution.
14:00The arithmetic figure is not to be ignored.
14:04We are today at 113 countries.
14:07This is extremely important.
14:09Yes.
14:10So, in these 113 countries, a certain number of countries that you mentioned in your presentation, Nordic countries, Latin America, every week now, etc.
14:19This is also translated by the territorial projection of these recognitions and supports at the level of the thirty consulates generals that there are at the UN and Dakhla.
14:30This is important because it is a diplomatic extension of a recognition of the state.
14:37The important fact is that there have been fundamentally two since four years, in my reading.
14:45Four years, it was still the American recognition, which is a fundamental element in the new terms of apprehension of the national question, the American administration.
14:59The accelerator.
15:00Absolutely.
15:01And besides, President Trump has been re-elected.
15:07He takes office in about twenty days.
15:10And so, here is what to comfort, if necessary, consolidate the American position.
15:16Despite the words and propaganda operations in a number of environments, etc., the American position is maintained and will be consolidated.
15:26Second axis, in my opinion.
15:29What is the impact?
15:30It is the first world power.
15:32Of the United States, and I think the second axis was France.
15:35It was France, yes, it is important.
15:37But what is the impact on the Security Council, on this dynamic within the Security Council?
15:43That is to say, at the level of the Security Council, first there is a privileged status of the American representative, it is the penholder.
15:51You know, by file, there is an agreement that is made for it to be such a country, etc.
15:56Traditionally, now, it is the American representative.
15:59And so, he has the advantage of preparing a project, of keeping in touch, etc.
16:07And to arrive at the deadline that is planned, following the UN agenda, to propose a number of things and to accept or not accept.
16:16This is what happened with the last resolution, 2756,
16:20where the Algerian representative multiplied the manoeuvres to propose amendments that were rejected
16:29by the American representative and by the majority of the members of the Security Council, it must be said.
16:34Here again, an example of an illustration of the isolation of the Algerian position.
16:38I continue in this same parenthesis on the isolation of the Algerian position.
16:43I have the memory, like you, of the whole campaign of promotion that had been carried out by the Algerian diplomacy,
16:50at the time led by Ntalamana, to say, we are going to be members of the Security Council for two years.
16:57It is the expression of the diplomatic growth of New Algeria, because it is the theme of Thubun,
17:05and we are also going to join the BRICS, and Algeria becomes a great influential power.
17:11Well, there is nothing of all this. What is the role and influence of the Algerian Security Council?
17:17It is a completely marginal role, otherwise…
17:20They did not have the right to vote on the issue of the Sahelian province.
17:24Absolutely.
17:25They did not have the right to vote.
17:26Of course, they did not have the right to vote.
17:27After that, they could not be part of it.
17:29They simply distinguish themselves by a pro-Palestinian activism that does not concern anyone,
17:36that does not advance the cause.
17:38For the BRICS, it is the same thing.
17:40There was a whole campaign, I have a speech of Thubun from November 2022,
17:45on, we are going to be in the BRICS, we are going to be among the great powers of the South, etc.
17:49He had declared that.
17:51Well, that happened in South Africa, you know, in August 2023.
17:55The candidacy of Algeria was not even registered.
18:01With this severe comment from whom?
18:05From the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, who said,
18:10it is not an influential power and it does not have an economic base to be elected.
18:16It is the Russian ministers who say that, Sergei Lavrov.
18:18So, it is interesting, given the links between Moscow and Algeria.
18:23The position of Paris is extremely interesting.
18:25It comes after the position of Spain,
18:28which was an occupying power and knows the file well.
18:32So that, plus Germany is important, plus a number of countries.
18:37The position of Paris, of course, is a major turning point in the apprehension of the national question.
18:43With the message of President Macron to Saint-Marie-de-Leroy on July 30,
18:48then extended by the state visit of the leader of the Elysee in late August in Morocco,
18:54where there was an exceptional trip.
18:57And we are therefore in this configuration,
19:00where an important member such as France, a member of the Security Council,
19:03fully supports the Moroccan position, plus the American position.
19:10And so, these are elements that weigh heavily within the Security Council,
19:14even more so, which are taken into account by the world's Chancelleries.
19:18And that is why we are here.
19:21Which are also taken into account by the organizations in the world.
19:25Colonel, did you want to add something?
19:27Before we talk about success within international organizations or international groups.
19:32Absolutely.
19:33Beyond the sovereign decisions of the different countries you mentioned.
19:37I was going to add another element on which my friend Mustapha has written.
19:43It is the exclusion of Polisario from the Intergroup within the European Parliament.
19:48Yes.
19:49Where there were…
19:51A dozen days ago.
19:52Yes, a dozen days ago.
19:53And you had formulated an interesting article on the subject.
19:57It is also part of the failures of…
20:01Today, I think that the neighbouring country has lost all its diplomatic compass.
20:10And it is in a work that we call, in our jargon, pyphometric.
20:15What did I want to add?
20:17I wanted to add that we have to talk about the situation on the ground in the Sahara.
20:21This is not negligible for the year 2024.
20:25Well, we have to know that within the framework of the protection,
20:31both of the wall and of the demilitarized zone,
20:35important operations were carried out by the Royal Armed Forces
20:41where they eliminated almost a dozen military leaders, the Polisario.
20:49And above all, after the terrorist attack of Samara and Mehebs,
20:56on which I think we have to insist, because it was a terrorist act in the eyes of…
21:03Well, we succeeded in a war of attrition
21:09that still allowed to amputate the Polisario of some very important military leaders.
21:16I will mention a few.
21:18Of course, Ba'ali Hammoudi, he is the leader of the 6th Region.
21:22Abdelaziz Ouled Baria, a very important cadre.
21:26It was said, Hamouda bin Ibrahim Ehimdoun,
21:31very important military leaders.
21:37To such an extent that these repercussions are felt in the Tindouf camps
21:43where there is a major tribal shock,
21:47where we can, in some tribes instead of others,
21:51today, we refuse to go to war with all the consequences.
21:56So, that's where we are.
21:58So, according to you, it's a decisive year, 2025.
22:01So, we talked about 2024.
22:04We have three minutes left for the time of this show.
22:072025, will it really be for you, Hassan Saoud,
22:12a decisive historical turning point for the end of this regional conflict?
22:17As it was said, the year 2024 is a success.
22:21And Morocco still has a diplomatic progression margin,
22:25according to many signals.
22:27And I think that the year 2025 will also look like 2024,
22:33because there are partnerships and friendly countries
22:36that could take the lead in all the additions to our thesis.
22:44Especially that 2025 is also being announced
22:46with its large number of major geopolitical changes on the international scene.
22:51We saw Syria, which is the most recent one.
22:55Syria is an Algerian boomerang.
22:58It's a boomerang for Algeria,
23:00where they are involved militarily with military personnel.
23:05And we are in the process of...
23:07Separate militias.
23:10500 members have been identified in Syria.
23:13Including a great Algerian leader.
23:15I will not mention the name.
23:17In general.
23:18Within the regime that has just fallen.
23:23Yes, Mustafa Sahemi.
23:25I leave you the word of the end.
23:27You are very kind.
23:29So, for 2025, there are several facts to consider.
23:34Morocco will continue its diplomatic advances
23:38and there is a dynamic.
23:40You know, the movement feeds the movement.
23:43The dynamic comforts the dynamic.
23:46There are other countries that will follow.
23:48There is a maturation that is taking place on the side of the United Kingdom.
23:52It is discreet, but it is being carried out successively.
23:57And probably in 2025 it will be finalized.
24:00There are other countries that will follow.
24:02There is an agenda that must be raised,
24:05which has been set up by the Security Council in Resolution 2756.
24:09It is in April.
24:11There is a formal session of the Security Council in October this year.
24:16And then there is a briefing session in April.
24:21And it is explicitly planned in Resolution 2756
24:25that the April meeting of 2025
24:28must be the occasion to make the point significantly
24:33about the continuation or not of the Senegalese process.
24:36And by the way, Mr. Tural said it.
24:39He said, I will see, at least as far as I am concerned,
24:42by the end of April, whether or not it is possible for me to continue my mission.
24:46My feeling is that he is not able to propose his mission because...
24:50Because of his visit to South Africa?
24:54No, no, because of the acts...
24:56His proposal is also relevant to another era.
25:00Because of his acts and his proposal of this trip,
25:03he is disqualified and therefore can no longer have a hand
25:08to accompany this process.
25:10And the international community, the Security Council,
25:12will be put in front of its responsibilities in April.
25:16It is an important meeting.
25:18I add, in Moroccan diplomacy, there is another aspect of a word.
25:22It is the Moroccan soft power.
25:24We will devote ourselves to it.
25:26No, but...
25:27A retrospective show, special soft power.
25:30It will be on Friday night.
25:32Find us on MichaelTV at 10 p.m.
25:34We will analyze the corners and corners of this soft power.
25:38The world, all that.
25:39Yes, of course.
25:402024, 2026, etc.
25:42And to finish, if you want, for 2024, this.
25:47A big thank you to 2024.
25:49And all my wishes, same bill, for 2025.
25:52God willing.
25:54Thank you too.
25:55Thank you too.
25:56In any case, it was a year full of ups and downs,
25:59which we learned a lot,
26:01or which we learned a lot,
26:03also thanks to your very, very demanding lighting on this set.
26:10Thank you very much.
26:11Thank you, gentlemen.
26:12This is the end of this special retrospective episode 2024
26:16on the Sahara.
26:19Thank you for following us.
26:20Have a very good evening.
26:24♪♪♪