Mauritanian Official Refutes The Makhzen’s Lies, Exposes Its Ambitions In The Region

Some Moroccan elites live a historical lie represented by the “Moroccanness of Mauritania” as they claim, the former head of the ruling party in Mauritania, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Ould Maham, said.

“Current Mauritania or the historical country of Chinguetti was never a Moroccan land and its people had never pledged allegiance to a Moroccan sultan”, he added.

This came in a post published by minister Ould Maham, on his Facebook account, in response to the hostile statements towards Mauritania made by Moroccan Ahmed Raissouni, who resigned under pressure from his position as president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Under the title “Historical Illusion”, the former Mauritanian minister wrote; “It seems that some Moroccan elites are living on a historical lie that they kept until they believed it with time, and it is the Moroccanness of Mauritania”, and “talking about history requires neutral evidence that does not accept the doubt”.

“Apart from politics and a purely historical standpoint, I would like to assure the brothers in brotherly Morocco that present-day Mauritania, the historical country of Chinguetti, the country of Tekrour, the country of the masked men, or the country of Siba has never been a Moroccan land, and its people have never offered allegiance to a Moroccan sultan. No Imam invited people to do it on a Friday sermon on one of its pulpits, or appoint him as an imam, no Moroccan sultan applied taxes, zakat, or judicial councils and achieved water projects in Mauritania, no Moroccan sultan built a wall to protect our country from invasion”, he explained.

“When the French invaded and occupied our country for six consecutive decades like it was recorded in our history, a colonial period in which we resisted with all force and sacrifice. It was never known that Morocco, which had not yet entered the era of the protectorate, considered that France had occupied part of its lands and did not call for the support of its people. When the Moroccan sultan ceded to France Moroccan sovereignty under the 1912 treaty, Mauritania was not among the relinquished lands at all, but Moroccan sovereignty at that time was limited from Tangier to Sidi Ifni”.

Accordingly, Ould Mahim asserted; “It is established that this land (Mauritania) was never Moroccan, neither by conquest nor by allegiance. If that happened, we would neither have denied it nor would we consider it part of our history, in which we cherish our pride in the relations of brotherhood, religion, blood and exchange that continued between us and our brothers in Morocco without them having authority or sovereignty over us, and I speak about history and history is clear in this point”.

Previously, Moroccan Ahmed Raissouni had made hostile statements against Algeria and Mauritania, which provoked indignant responses, as he called for extremism and aggression against Muslim peoples, from a person who represents an international Muslim body entrusted with sending a message of peace and solidarity in the name of the true Islamic religion.