Caracas: Hilale Denounces Pressure Exerted by Algerian Ambassador on Delegations Supporting Sahara’s Moroccanness

The debate on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara at the C24 Caribbean Seminar, held in Caracas (May 14-16), ended with sharp exchange between Morocco’s Ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale and his Algerian counterpart Amar Benjama. The Moroccan diplomat vigorously denounced the acts of intimidation exerted by his Algerian colleague against the delegations which supported the Moroccanness of the Sahara during this meeting. Telling the participants of his shock and indignation at this harassment, he reminded the Algerian ambassador that “the C24 meetings have always been a space of freedom of expression respected by all. However, instead of answering my questions about the responsibility of his country in the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, my Algerian colleague went to terrorize a delegation for the simple reason that it defended the Moroccanness of the Sahara”. Hilale added: “Algerian diplomatic terrorism is well known to friendly delegations supporting the territorial integrity of the Kingdom, both at the C24, the Fourth Committee and the General Assembly in New York, including in their respective capitals, and unfortunately today in Caracas”. “We are not in Algiers Mr. Ambassador”, he told him. The Moroccan ambassador also decried Algeria’s interference in the sovereign decisions of States, noting that Algiers did not hesitate to use its mandate in the Security Council to blackmail friendly countries under examination in the Council, with the shameful transaction “Change your position on the Sahara question and you will have the support of Algeria”, affirming that it is a lost cause for Algeria, because these countries are in no way intimidated. Hilale noted that the behavior of his colleague is not surprising, because it is the extension of a well-established practice in his country, regularly singled out by UN bodies and international organizations for its infamous record in matters of human rights violations. He explained that in Algeria “there is no freedom of expression, no freedom of movement, no freedom of assembly. All human rights organizations have been dissolved. Your country has just promulgated the most liberticidal penal code, which allows the sentencing to 30 years in prison of any person simply expressing their opinion and you come to Caracas to give lessons on self-determination, freedom and independence”. Reacting in a second right of response to the Algerian ambassador’s indecent confusion between the question of the Moroccan Sahara and that of Palestine, as well as his tendentious remarks on the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara, Hilale highlighted the Kingdom’s constant and unwavering support for the Palestinian cause. He addressed his Algerian colleague directly, saying: “you pride yourself on defending Palestine in the Security Council, it is your role as representative of Arab countries within this body, but you forbid your people to demonstrate in favor of Palestine, because you are afraid of the Algerian people when they take to the streets, unlike you, demonstrations in support of the Palestinian population of Gaza know no restrictions in the Kingdom of Morocco. Ambassador Hilale also demystified the fabrication of his Algerian colleague according to which his country has no claim in the Sahara issue, reminding him that “Algeria grants itself the right to interfere in Morocco’s internal affairs, the right to block the UN political process, the right to host and arm a separatist group which has links to terrorism in the Sahel.  He concluded by saying “this is what Algeria is, its true face, and it’s true demands.”