Western Sahara may trigger new crisis may be triggered between Riyadh and Algeria
Morocco’s King Mohamed the Sixth described Algeria as « the enemy State,” saying it applies “manoeuvers against the integrity of his country.” Saudi Arabia’s King Salmane Ben Abdelaziz said his country supports the Moroccan approach to occupy Sahrawi lands. This may raise a new crisis between the two countries due to visions divergence about Western Sahara and other issues like the situation in Syria and Yemen.
Mohamed the Sixth Wednesday chose to meet his allied during the proceedings of the Gulf-Moroccan Summit in Riyadh. He criticized Algeria without naming it.
« Morocco’s enemies use all the direct and indirect means in their clear manoeuvres. They are trying either to drop legitimacy from Morocco’s existence in its Sahara, to reinforce the independence choice or to weaken the autonomy initiative,” he said.
« There are hostile plans which target the region stability. They are continuous and will not stop,” he added.
Speaking about his conflict with the UN, he said “what can the UN Secretary General do as he is controlled by some of his assistants and advisors? He just executes their propositions.”
Saudi Arabia’s King Salmane stood by Morocco’s side, trying to legitimize its occupation of the Sahrawi lands.
“We appreciate its [Morocco] positions in support of our international issues and our war to liberate Kuwait as well as its participation in the Islamic alliance to fight terrorism. We show solidarity to all the political and security issues including the Western Sahara one,” he said.
In a press conference with his Moroccan counterpart, Saudi foreign minister Adel Djbair said the Cooperation Council’s states support Morocco.
“The leaders of Cooperation Council’s states in the Arab Gulf renewed their position about the Western Sahara issue. They support Morocco and the autonomy initiative,” he added.
According to observers, bilateral relations between Algeria and Saudi Arabia may enter an “inactive phase” due to Riyadh’s positions.