Moroccan king reaches out again for reconciliation with Algeria
SMA NEWS – RABAT
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, reached out to Algeria on the 22nd anniversary of his accession to the throne sending messages of reassurance in his speech to his country’s eastern neighbour, seeking to dispel tensions that have beset relations between the two countries for decades due to Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front.
The Polisario is a separatist movement that seeks the independence of the Western Sahara, which Morocco considers part of its sovereign territory.
The Moroccan monarch was trying to revive a similar initiative launched by Rabat three years ago but which met with silence from Algiers.
The king called for the opening of the borders between Algeria and Morocco, which have remained closed since 1994. He said that “The closing of the border does not stop communication between the two peoples; rather, it only contributes to the closure of minds, which are swayed by the false stories spread by some media outlets, namely that Moroccans are afflicted by poverty and that they live on smuggling and drugs.”
He also renewed Morocco’s sincere call “to our brothers in Algeria for us to work together, without conditions, for the development of bilateral relations based on trust, dialogue and good neighbourliness.”
He pointed out that he is “not satisfied with the current state of our relations, for it does not serve our peoples’ interests, nor is it acceptable to a great many countries.”
“It is my firm belief that an open border between two neighbouring countries and two brotherly peoples is the norm,” he added.
In a bid to reassure Algeria, the king said he believed, “that the security and stability of Algeria and the tranquility of its people are inseparable from the security and stability of Morocco and vice versa: what affects Morocco will also affect Algeria, for the two countries are like one and the same body.”
He pointed out: “Morocco and Algeria are more than just two neighbouring countries: they are twins, complementing one another.”
