C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000195

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2019
TAGS: PBTS PGOV WI UNSC MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO'S TALLY OF COUNTRIES REJECTING/SUPPORTING
RECOGNITION OF INDEPENDENT SAHARA

REF: RABAT 0512

Classified By: A/DCM Craig Karp for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION: Morocco continues to work to
persuade countries around the globe to de-recognize the
Polisario Front's declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic,
or at least freeze relations, beyond which they want
countries to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Western
Sahara. It seems to be the principal focus of Moroccan
diplomacy and has had some success, but it has been slow and
piecemeal. By their own count, the majority of members of
the United Nations (110 out of 150) do not recognize SADR,
nor do any Arab countries other than Algeria. At the UN, the
Polisario does not have a formal observer status, like the
PLO, but has an informal status as a movement, they maintain.
We cannot confirm the GOM's judgments, but they appear
broadly to conform to what we know. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On March 6, in response to an Embassy, Rabat
request, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
provided us with a list of countries that do not recognize
the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), those that do,
and those that recently changed their position to none
recognition. According to this list, the majority of members
of the United Nations (110 out of 150) do not recognize SADR.
The record also indicates there are currently 40 countries
who recognize the SADR. Probably owing mostly to Moroccan
diplomatic efforts, 41 countries which previously recognized
the SADR withdrew their recognition and froze their relations
with the SADR. Morocco's effort to secure recognition of its
claims to Western Sahara (or at least the non-recognition of
the SADR) by other countries represents Morocco's dominant
foreign policy objective, which largely shapes its external
relations with countries.


3. (U) There are 110 countries, including most countries on
the UN Security Council, who have never recognized the SADR,
including the following:

Africa: Cameroon, Central Africa, Comoros Islands, Ivory

Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Libya
(recognizes the Polisario but not the SADR), Niger, Republic
Democratic Congo, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia.

Americans and Caribbean: Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada,
Chili, and the United States.

Asia and Oceana/Pacific: Saudi Arabia, Australia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, China, South
Korea, United Arab Emirates, Fiji, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel,
Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Micronesia,
Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Uzbekistan, Palau,
Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Tajikistan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan.

Europe: Germany, Andorra, Austria, Belorussia, Belgium,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark,
Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro,
Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Great
Britain, Russia, St. Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Turkey, Ukraine and The Vatican.


4. (U) The below listed 41 countries previously recognized
the SADR but changed their stance by either withdrawing
recognition or freezing relations with the SADR.

Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Congo, Guinea
Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar,
Malawi, St. Thomas and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Chad, and Togo.

Asia and Pacific Ocean: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Solomon
Islands, India, Iran, Kiribati, Laos, Nauru, Tuvalu, Syria,
Vanuatu, Yemen and Vietnam.

Europe: Albania, and Serbia.

South, Central America and the Caribbean: Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominique, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay,
Peru, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia.


5. (U) Countries who currently recognize the SADR include:

Africa: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Lesotho, Mauritius, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia,

Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.

Asia and Pacific Ocean: East Timor, Papua New Guinea and
North Korea.

South, Central America and the Caribbean: Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Cuba, Equator, Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinity and Tobago,
Venezuela, and Uruguay.


6. (C) COMMENT: Getting other countries to recognize its
sovereignty over Western Sahara, or to abstain from taking a
position on Western Sahara, has been a dominant focus of
Morocco's diplomatic efforts since 1975, when the Spanish
vacated Western Sahara. Morocco's increased diplomatic
efforts, particularly over the last nine years, appear to
have been paying off, albeit slowly. Since 2000, 23
countries have rescinded or frozen their relationship with
the SADR. Morocco appears to have placed particular emphasis
on Africa with corresponding success. Kenya's reversal of
its recognition of SADR in 2007 was seen as a particular coup
for Morocco in recent years. As an example of their
comprehensive approach to this quest, Morocco provided
weapons that were used to defeat putschists in the Comoros in
2008 (reftel), which directly preceded a shift by neighboring
and heavily engaged Seychelles. END COMMENT.


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Jackson