POST LUGAR MISSION: ALGERIAN FM BEDJAOUI ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 001911

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2015
TAGS: PREL PBTS PHUM MO AG WI
SUBJECT: POST LUGAR MISSION: ALGERIAN FM BEDJAOUI ON
WESTERN SAHARA


Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) In an August 31 meeting on several topics with FM
Bedjaoui, Ambassador reaffirmed President Bush's appreciation
for Algeria's help in facilitating the release of the final
404 Moroccan prisoners previously held by the Polisario.
Making reference to President Bush's letter to President
Bouteflika sent shortly after the conclusion of Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Lugar's visit to the
region, Ambassador reiterated our appreciation. Bedjaoui
said Algeria appreciated the written message from the U.S.
President and was further gratified by Morocco's gesture to
grant agrement to Presidential Chief of Staff Belkheir as the
next Ambassador to the Kingdom the same day the request was
received. For its part, the GOA approved Morocco's recent
request for agrement to its candidate with the same speed.


2. (C) The prisoner release by the Polisario and the quick
agreement for Belkheir were positive gestures, affirmed
Bedjaoui. More forward momentum was needed in economic and
cultural exchanges. Leaving alone the question of the
Western Sahara, both Algeria and Morocco needed to move
forward. "Algeria is not the enemy of Morocco. I am not the
enemy of Morocco," emphasized the FM. Bedjaoui noted that in
1975 the UNGA had asked the International Court in the Hague
for an advisory opinion on legal issues regarding the Western
Sahara. "I pleaded the case (for self-determination) as a
diplomat. Did that make me an enemy of Morocco? No." For
30 years, Bedjaoui claimed, Morocco has made little to no
effort to move toward the position of the international
community on the Western Sahara issue despite having
originally argued alongside Algeria for the right of
self-determination, when Spain was still the colonial power.



3. (C) Algeria, continued Bedjaoui, respected the Moroccan
psychology on Western Sahara and had thus shown great
flexibility in agreeing to the Baker Plan despite the fact
that it did not provide for a true exercise of
self-determination for the Sahrawi people. Instead of
limiting referendum voting rights strictly to the indigenous
Sahrawis, the Baker Plan extended voting rights to over
110,000 Moroccans as well. With Algeria's strong
encouragement, the Polisario had nonetheless accepted the
participation of these Moroccans in a referendum.


4. (C) Ambassador reiterated U.S. hopes that both sides would
be able to seize upon the POW release to build a more
positive climate in the region. He noted that there was a
serious problem of communication on both sides and that
Belkheir's posting in Rabat hopefully would help reduce
communication problems. Well-intentioned actions by one side
or the other were not always properly understood because they
had not been adequately explained or privately briefed in
advance. Morocco's announcement lifting the visa
requirement, for example, was not briefed in advance and thus
caught the Algerians by surprise, prompting a negative rather
than a positive reaction. The abrupt canceling of Prime
Minister Ouyahia's visit by Morocco, which misread Algerian
seriousness about using the visit to move toward a reopening
of the border, had also caused problems.


5. (C) For its part, Ambassador continued, Algeria made a
"serious mistake" in not responding in a more concrete and
positive way to King Mohammed VI's significant gesture of
visiting Algiers for the Arab League Summit. Publicly, the
perception was that the King had made a major gesture but had
gotten nothing in return. This in turn has affected the
Moroccan mindset, strengthening those who argued against
efforts to pursue rapprochement. If the situation was to
improve, both sides would need to demonstrate greater
sensitivity toward needs and concerns of the other. Bedjaoui
responded that it was not too late to improve matters.


ERDMAN