Bourita : Algeria Tries to Dissuade Countries from Attending Crans Montana Forum in Dakhla

Algerian leaders are currently trying to dissuade countries not to participate in the next Crans Montana Forum scheduled for March 18-21, in the Southern Moroccan city of Dakhla.

Official documents issued by a neighboring State urge other countries not to attend the upcoming Crans Montana Forum due in Dakhla, said last Friday, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, during the opening ceremony of Djibouti Consulate General in Dakhla.

These scathing acts are new irrefutable evidences of this country’s direct involvement in the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara and belie its claims of “neutrality” and “observer status” in this territorial dispute, he said.

The Crans Montana Forum will be held as scheduled and will be as successful as in previous years, said Bourita, underlining Morocco’s constructive and positive stand.

“Morocco defends all opportunities for cooperation and dialogue in the southern provinces and if one party wants to stand in its way, let’s it shoulder its responsibilities”, he added “The Kingdom knows well its way and will not deviate from its course.”

Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara “is not subject to a process consisting of convincing a well-known party (Algeria) to engage in a constructive effort to end this artificial conflict”, he stressed, affirming that the Kingdom “never puts its sovereignty over its Sahara on the negotiating table or any other process”.

The growing international recognition of the Moroccan Sahara is gaining momentum, underlined the Moroccan top diplomat, saying that other countries will soon open their consulates in Laayoune and Dakhla and that several diplomatic meetings will take place in these two provinces of the Moroccan Sahara.