Provocative Moroccan FM: « Morocco will collide with Algeria throughout the year »

In a desperate attempt to obfuscate the dismal failure by the Moroccan intelligence services to stem the steady leaks by an anonymous hacker of classified Moroccan diplomatic documents with tarnished the Moroccan regime’s image on the world scene, the Moroccan foreign minister, Salahiddine Mezouar, has again accused neighbouring Algeria of having a link with the affair without giving any evidence for that matter.

During a meeting with the committee of external advisors in Rabat, Salahiddine Mezouar pitifully blamed Algeria for blocking the settlement of the Western Sahara issue, without specifying nonetheless that Morocco had doggedly refused so far to endorse and implement the relevant UN resolutions pertaining to this clear decolonization issue.

Woeful and aggressive Mezouar warned that Morocco would halt its “defensive diplomacy on the issue and wage instead a confrontational approach towards Algeria throughout the year 2015” , ostensibly in a bid to divert public opinion away from the massive compromising leaks targeting Morocco for the past few months notably regarding the  40 year-long Western Sahara issue.

An anonymous hacker using the Twitter handle @chris_coleman24 has been leaking classified Moroccan diplomatic documents.

Over the past few months, a Moroccan version of Wikileaks has sowed disorder with a steady, almost daily, drip of leaked diplomatic documents appearing online – including classified papers, bank transfers and confidential correspondence, which have exposed the Kingdom of Morocco’s shady diplomatic dealings with the international community.

Corruption within the close circle of family members and advisors to Moroccan King Mohammed VI is one of the worst-kept secrets in Morocco. But while whispers of royal corruption abound, public discussion of the allegations are sensitive in a country that has been ruled by the reigning Alaouite dynasty since the 15th century.

US cables published by Wikileaks have detailed “the appalling greed” of those close to King Mohammed VI and the high-level corruption in elite Moroccan circles.

The latest leaks, however, purportedly reveal the inner shadowy workings of the Moroccan makhzen.

The problem with the latest leaks, though, is the overwhelming focus on the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara which was at the heart of the matter.

The spotlight on Western Sahara, a territory over which Morocco has been in conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front movement, have raised questions over whether the leaks stem from political activism or personal revenge.

The Polisario Front has been waging a guerrilla war against Moroccan authorities for the independence of the former Spanish colony since the 1975 Spanish withdrawal.

A number of leaked Moroccan diplomatic cables reveal the tensions between Moroccan authorities and the UN, particularly with Christopher Ross, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Western Sahara. Some of the documents also disclose tensions between Rabat and Washington.

The most  incendiary revelations, however, suggest that Moroccan officials bribed diplomats and foreign journalists, including French reporters, to ensure they support Rabat’s untenable position on the Western Sahara issue.

The targeted focus on one of Morocco’s most thorny foreign policy issues forced Moroccan Deputy Foreign Minister Mbarka Bouaida followed by Salahddine Mezouar himself to lamely accuse “pro-Polisario elements” – in concert with Algerian intelligence services of being behind the striking revelations.

The deafening silence of Moroccan officials on the awesome leaks has raised questions over Rabat’s failure to deny their authenticity.