Communication between Algeria and Paris has been continuous over the last two weeks, with France notifying Algeria of its intent to acknowledge "the Moroccan Sahara" more decisively than in previous political statements by its officials.
According to diplomatic sources who spoke to Assahifa Arabic, Paris decided to inform the Algerian side of its decision following the diplomatic norms and customs in force, given that it is the funder, supporter, and host of the separatist Polisario Front, whose camps are located on Algerian soil.
The French decision surprised the Algerian regime, which, over the past two weeks, tried to exert all available pressure to change the French position before announcing it officially, including the threat to cancel contracts with the French company Total Energies, which operates in the energy sector in southern Algeria, and to void its partnership with the Sonatrach conglomerate, as is the case with their agreement to develop energy resources in the northeastern region of Timimoun, for which a memorandum of understanding was signed last April.
Assahifa's sources confirmed that the Algerian side played all its cards against France to prevent it from "legally" recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, going beyond the diplomatic stance French politicians have taken for decades. This significantly angered the Algerian regime and led to a "disproportionate" reaction according to diplomatic norms.
So, what's new in the French decision that upset Algeria? the diplomatic sources who talked to Assahifa had said that the French decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and consider autonomy the only solution to the conflict would go beyond a diplomatic statement to a "legal recognition of a state." In other words, France will distribute a memorandum to the members of the Security Council through its permanent representative, declaring to all council members its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and considering the autonomy proposal as "the basis and the sole solution to resolve the Sahara conflict."
The same sources added that the President of the Security Council must circulate it with the French recognition document of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara to all permanent and non-permanent members, where it will become a decision and an official recognition from a state in a case before the council.
This will be followed by notifying all French diplomatic missions and embassies worldwide to include this recognition in their preambles, correspondence, and maps in these missions and embassies, where they must be changed to maps of the Kingdom of Morocco, including the Sahara, without any dividing lines. This will also apply to all French ministries and state-owned media outlets.
This significant change in the French decision, which will become an official decree upon its announcement, has led Algeria to exert all available pressure. This was reflected in the reaction of the Algerian regime, which leaked France's diplomatic message about the Sahara in a statement published by the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which contained many threats and warnings to Paris.
The French decision will come as the second legal recognition by a permanent member of the Security Council after the American decision in 2020 when Washington recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and the autonomy plan to resolve the conflict. The US permanent representative to the Security Council, Kelly Craft, distributed a letter on December 15, 2020, to all council members, announcing that the United States "is honored to present the recognition of the Kingdom of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara."
