ALGERIAN AMBASSDOR BELIEVES MOROCCO,S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000496

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2018
TAGS: PREL ECIN PBTS AG MO
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN AMBASSDOR BELIEVES MOROCCO,S
RAPPROCHEMENT PROPOSAL IS AIMED AT U.S. AND FRANCE

REF: A. ALGIERS 0555

B. RABAT 0417

C. RABAT 0401

D. STATE 049768

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: During a two-hour exchange the Algerian
Ambassador declined to identify what he referred to as many
specific issues that prevent good relations between Algeria
and Morocco. He opined, however, that the Moroccan proposal
to re-open the border was designed to curry favor with the
United States and France. He thought the Algerian Prime
Minister,s April visit to Tangier was positive and that
backsliding must be avoided. He was careful to talk about
the rights of the Sahrawi people rather than the Polisario.
For our part, Ambassador Riley briefed the Algerian
Ambassador and DCM on the evolution of U.S. policy on Western
Sahara, our invitation to the Polisario and our desire to
facilitate better Algerian-Moroccan relations and strengthen
regional integration. End summary.


2. (C) On May 27, the Ambassador and DCM met with Algerian
Ambassador Larbi Belkheir and Algerian DCM Boumedian Guennad
for a two-hour exchange on Algerian-Moroccan relations and
regional issues. The Ambassador started the conversation by
asking about the Algerian Prime Minister,s visit (Ref B).
Belkheir, a former Minister of Interior and former Chief of
Staff to the Algerian President, explained that he had gone
to great lengths to get his Prime Minister to attend the 50th
anniversary of the Tangiers Conference. In fact, he had even
engaged the Government of Tunisia to persuade it to cancel a
conference on the same theme. He emphasized that the Prime
Minister had attended in his capacity as FLN leader and had
not been upset by Moroccan Minister of State El Yazghi,s
diatribe about Western Sahara ) comments disavowed by other,
embarrassed members of his own political party.


3. (C) Ambassador Belkheir continued by providing a
historical perspective starting in the 1970s. He noted that
the 1972 Ifrane Accord on border demarcation had never been
implemented. Belkheir noted that the Algerian Government was
deeply offended when the late King Hassan II proposed that
the Islamist FIS be allowed to come to power as an
experiment. As terrorism spread in Algeria, Morocco provided
no assistance. Claims resulting from the 1993 expulsion of
Algerians remain a bilateral issue. However, Hassan II and
the Algerian President had met on the border in 1993 to avert
a war between the two neighbors. Moreover, Morocco had never
provided an explanation of the abrupt cancellation of the
planned June 2004 visit by the Algerian Prime Minister.


4. (C) Commenting on how much Western Sahara explains the
strained relations, Belkheir said that Algeria had proposed
autonomy plans leading to a popular vote in the past.
Algeria had also arranged for Hassan II to meet with
Polisario leader Abdelaziz in Oran in 1991.


5. (C) Ambassador Riley took the opportunity to explain the
evolution of U.S. policy on Western Sahara (Ref D),
emphasizing our invitation to the Polisario to meet USG
officials in Washington, our urging the GOM to meet with the
Polisario, our belief that an independent Western Sahara is
unrealistic, and our efforts to improve Algeria,s relations
with Morocco and to strengthen regional cooperation through
the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU). Belkheir responded by
asserting that there are people on both sides of the frontier
who simply do not want good relations. He said that the GOA
believes the recent Moroccan proposal to reopen the border
and to address all other issues is a Moroccan effort to curry
favor with France and the United States. As for the AMU,
Belkheir asked rhetorically if all other AMU members would
really like to see rapprochement between the two largest
economies. He concluded that the important thing is to avoid
any backsliding.


6. (C) Comment: Asked several times in several ways, what
Algerian and Moroccan Ministers of Foreign Affairs and
Interior might discuss, the 1993 claims and the Ifrane Accord
were the only concrete things that Belkheir would identify,
but this is more specific than he has been before and

RABAT 00000496 002 OF 002


comports assessments we have heard from his staff and some
Moroccans. Apart from mentioning the Polisario leader,
Ambassador Belkheir scrupulously avoided mentioning the
Polisario. Instead, he always spoke about the rights of the
Sahrawi people. We believe that Belkheir,s views accurately
reflect Algerian policy as reported by Embassy Algiers. It
remains up to the Moroccans to demonstrate the good faith of
their proposals, perhaps by offering to address separately
the specific issues highlighted by Belkheir, or by the
Sahara-related gestures requested in Ref D. For the near
term at least, the political calendar renders prospects for
rapprochement bleak. The potential benefits, however, may
make it still worth pursuing by the USG and other friends of
the Maghreb countries. End comment.


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Riley