ALGERIANS IN NEW YORK OBJECT TO VAN WALSUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000767

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC AG MO WI
SUBJECT: ALGERIANS IN NEW YORK OBJECT TO VAN WALSUM
INITIATIVE, MOROCCAN AUTONOMY PLAN


Classified By: Amb. John Bolton. E.O. 12958. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: Algerian PR Youcef Yousfi March 22 conveyed
Algeria's objections to Personal Envoy for Western Sahara
Peter van Walsum's proposal that Algeria participate as a
party in negotiations with Morocco on the issue of Western
Sahara and to a presumed forthcoming Moroccan autonomy
proposal that rules out self-determination for the Sahrawi.
These points, made in a late February letter from President
Bouteflika to Secretary-General Annan, have also been
conveyed to every Security Council member. Ambassador Bolton
said that van Walsum's proposal was an attempt to break a
stalemate wherein Morocco remains satisfied, and the
Polisario and Algeria unsatisfied, with the status quo.
Encouraging Algerian flexibility, Ambassador Bolton said the
U.S. continues to support the efforts of the Personal Envoy,
is open as to what action the Security Council may take in
the future, and awaits a substantive Moroccan plan and the
Polisario response to it. End Summary.

Algeria's Concerns; Bouteflika's Letter



2. (C) In a March 22 meeting he requested with Ambassador
Bolton to discuss the Western Sahara, Algerian PR Youcef
Yousfi said Algeria is concerned that the Secretary-General's
Personal Envoy for Western Sahara has chosen to ignore
fifteen years of Security Council efforts and advocate a
political process based only on the principle of autonomy, a
process that ignores the principle of self-determination for
the Palestinian people. He said that Algeria has also
learned that Morocco plans to present a plan for autonomy for
the Western Saharans that does not include Western Saharan
sovereignty over the territory. Finally Algeria has heard
that Personal Envoy Peter van Walsum has advocated the idea
of direct Algerian negotiations with Morocco on the Western
Sahara issue.


3. (C) Ambassador Yousfi said that Algerian President
Bouteflika had recently written a letter to Secretary-General
Annan. (Note: The letter, personally delivered on late
February to Annan by Algerian Minister Delegate for the
Maghreb Abdelkader Messahel, has not been made public. End
Note.) Yousfi, summarized the main points of the letter:

History will remember that it was during the tenure of the
Secretary-General that the Baker Plan offered a way to break

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through the thirty year deadlock in the Western Sahara in a
manner characterized by realism, justice and legality.

Algeria has been surprised to learn of a proposal for
Algeria to participate in direct negotiations with Morocco in
a manner that would consecrate a pre-determined autonomy for
the Western Sahara in the name of "realpolitik," but would,
in fact, be at variance with international legality and the
rights of the Western Saharans.

Algeria refuses to be considered a party to the conflict
and to negotiate with Morocco in place of the people of
Western Sahara; any kind of negotiation to find a solution
should be conducted between the two parties (Morocco and
Polisario) only.

There is no reason for Algeria to be associated with such a
negotiation: Algeria has nothing to claim and nothing to give.


4. (C) Yousfi told Ambassador Bolton that he has seen the
representatives of the every Security Council member to
convey a similar message. One, a P-5 PR very close to the
U.S., told Yousfi that he had informed Personal Envoy van
Walsum twice already that any plan van Walsum brings to the
Security Council should have the support of the Polisario and
the non-objection of Algeria.

Van Walsum's Frustration, Moroccan Satisfaction, Algerian
Flexibility



5. (C) Ambassador Bolton thanked Yousfi for his presentation
of Algeria's views on Western Sahara. Ambassador Bolton said
that he saw van Walsum's initiative as a reflection of his
frustration with a status quo in which Morocco will not
accept a referendum involving self-determination. The
current stalemate, Ambassador Bolton said, is very
satisfactory to Morocco -- they control the territory, have
not had a referendum and no one will force them to have one.
It is not satisfactory for the Sahrawi, who are in refugee
camps in Tindouf, and it cannot be satisfactory for Algeria,
on whose land the refugees live and for whom borders are a
constant source of concern. One has to give credit to van
Walsum for trying to break the status quo. Otherwise,
Morocco will continue to settle more and more people in the
territory, reinforce its control of the territory, and begin
to exploit mineral rights and fishing rights there. Then,
possession being nine points of the law, the international
community will come to accept Western Sahara as part of
Morocco. Ambassador Bolton added that in our discussions
with Moroccan officials we have said that any autonomy plan
that they might offer should be a substantial and genuine
plan, not one to be treated as a starting point for
negotiations.


6. (C) Ambassador Yousfi asked what the Security Council
might do if the Moroccans offer an autonomy plan and the
Polisario, as would be expected, rejects it. In such an
eventuality, Yousfi asked, would the Security Council
consider imposing a solution? He reiterated Algeria's
position that it would not follow a "realpolitik" policy and
said that as the status quo continues, the unhappiness to
which the Polisario must respond will increase, forcing its
leadership to find a way to express its opinions. Ambassador
Yousfi said that for the past fifteen years, Algeria has
sought to improve relations with Morocco while preferring
that the UN solve the problem of Western Sahara. Yet some
months ago Morocco had canceled the scheduled visit of the
Algerian Prime Minister. Some people in Algeria believe that
there cannot be any improvement in the bilateral relationship
until the problem of Western Sahara is solved. Moreover, the
longer it drags on, the more difficult it will be to solve.


7. (C) Ambassador Bolton said that he had earlier suggested
that if there continued to be no agreement, the Security
Council should consider whether MINURSO had outlived its
usefulness. Analytically, he said, we remain flexible and
open to suggestions. He said the position of the U.S.
government is to support the work of the Personal Envoy.
Ambassador Bolton said that his personal his wish is that the
Western Sahara problem be solved, but that it is a problem
that cannot be solved until the status quo is broken.
Ambassador Bolton said that he is curious to see how the
Polisario will react to the Moroccan plan. He said that the
Polisario have been restrained for some time. Commenting on
the need for flexibility and Algeria's reluctance to
participate in Western Sahara negotiations, Ambassador Bolton
recalled that when former Personal Envoy Baker worked the
issue, Algeria and Mauritania were present at the discussions
not as parties but as interested observers.

BOLTON