SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000585 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/MAG, AND NEA/PI LONDON, PARIS AND DUBAI FOR MEDIA HUBS E.0.12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM KPAO EAID KMPI MO SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S LETTER TO KING MOHAMED VI -------------- Summary and Comment -------------- ¶1. (SBU) President Obama's July 1 letter to Moroccan King Mohamed VI, which focused on Middle East peace and Western Sahara, generated massive press coverage following release in its entirety by the Government of Morocco (GOM). The government and pro-palace press has been effusive in its praise of the letter. Much of the independent press has been critical, perceiving the letter as demonstrating that the Obama administration has walked back from the previous administration's overt support for Morocco's autonomy proposal, and believing that the letter draws a linkage between Moroccan normalization with Israel, and U.S. support on Western Sahara. For its part, the Government of Morocco (GOM) has studiously avoided making any public comments about the letter. But the fact that the Palace chose to have the letter published, coupled with the extremely favorable coverage the letter received in the official and pro-palace press, suggests official satisfaction with the letter. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (SBU) At direction of the highest levels of the GOM, President Obama's letter was immediately translated into French and published in its entirety on the website of the government news agency, the Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP),and in pro-palace daily "Le Matin." Its key points have been widely quoted in the Moroccan press. 2M television conducted an interview with CDA Jackson on the main points of the letter, portions of which were aired twice (during the French- and Arabic-language news) on July 6. ¶3. (U) MAP has produced several articles praising the letter, featuring interviews with prominent Moroccan intellectuals stating that it reconfirmed Morocco's central role in promoting Middle East peace. These were reprinted in "Le Matin" and its Arabic-language sister, "Assahara." "Le Matin," whose editorial page is usually assumed to reflect the views of the Palace, also carried an editorial on July 6 entitled "Obama and Mohammed VI: The Convergence," which stated that the letter underscored the closeness of the American and Moroccan visions for Middle East peace and Western Sahara (see block quotes below). ¶4. (U) Several independent and Islamist newspapers, including "Al-Massae," the largest circulation daily in Morocco, have been promoting a very different, far more critical narrative. They have opined that the letter demonstrates a linkage between what the USG would like Morocco to do for Middle East peace, and U.S. policy on Western Sahara. The commentaries maintain that: a) the USG is offering very little by way of support for Morocco on Western Sahara, and indeed the "new" USG policy represents a step backwards from the Bush administration's support for the Moroccan autonomy plan; and b) Morocco has already done enough for its bilateral relationship with the U.S. and for Middle East peace to warrant U.S. support. ¶5. (U) Block Quotes: "Obama and Mohammed VI: The Convergence," editorial in "Le Matin:" "U.S. President Barack Obama has just sent a message to King Mohammed VI that was written with a rare scope. On the political, spiritual, and human levels ... this message, by the richness of its content and its human dimension and the president's will, emphasizes the intellectual convergence between President Obama and King Mohammed VI. ... two components, among others, were essential ... the situation in the Middle East, including the city of Al Quds (Jerusalem),and the evolution of the Sahara issue. ... The letter from Barack Obama is a profession of faith, nourished by a conviction: shared values of justice, peace and tolerance. It is also a sign that America will be working at the RABAT 00000585 002 OF 002 side of the Kingdom of Morocco." "All that Israel wants," by commentary director Rashid Niny in independent daily "Al Massae" on July 7: "The letter by Hussein Obama in response to a previous letter by King Mohammed VI, in which he raised the Judaization of Jerusalem, contains many coded words that require interpretation. ... Morocco has committed itself to America at the level of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement),despite the fact that the agreement favors America alone. Morocco has committed itself to the project of inter-faith dialogue, and during the time of General Laanigri, committed itself to the fight against terrorism, to the point of turning Morocco into the biggest factory of terrorists. Morocco has accepted reform of the religious realm, to the extent that the Minister of Endowment and Islamic Affairs hired an American to bring order to Dar Al Hadith Al Hassaniya [the main religious school], and has dispatched murshidat [female preachers] to America for training, and severed relationships with both Iran and Venezuela, and has accepted the involvement of USAID in funding an awareness program about offering quotas to women in elections. After all this, Obama comes to tell us that the utmost thing he could do on the Sahara issue is to wish good luck to his envoy, sorry, the U.N. envoy, Christopher Ross, in strengthening dialogue between the parties ... The letter is thus clear, and there is no need to ask Obama for more explanation. There are some people who want the Sahara issue to remain permanently pending, to use it as a scarecrow to provoke Morocco and get all that Israel wants from this exhausted Arab world." "Fourth Estate," commentary in independent daily "Akhbar Al Youm" on July 8: "The Moroccan Foreign Ministry has not responded to U.S. President Barak Obama's letter to King Mohammed VI, in which he has offered Morocco the initiative to lead a new campaign of normalization with Israel, to contribute to bringing the Jewish state out of its isolation, [but] for what? For a promise by Obama that his administration 'would make efforts with other parties in the region to reach a solution that responds to the needs of populations concerning transparent governance and confidence in a country of rule of the law and a fair and organized administration.' Obama thus has announced a change in the position that was taken by the former Bush administration, which was to support the autonomy project as framework for negotiations and find a solution to the conflict in the Sahara. Obama's letter did refer to that project, for which Morocco has made major concessions ... Why hasn't Foreign Minister Taeib Fassi Fihri responded to that letter? The question remains pending, unanswered." "Cheap Bargain," editorial in Islamist daily "Attajdid" on July 6: "It is not too difficult to smell the bargain between normalization with the Zionist Entity and the Moroccan Sahara issue, especially given that U.S. President Barack Obama's long-awaited letter did not deal directly with the Moroccan proposal of broad autonomy for the Southern Sahraoui provinces. ... What is new in this letter is its frank intent to place Morocco in a specific position within the U.S. agenda in the region following the Cairo speech, and this through calling on Morocco to 'be a leader in reconciliation between Arabs and Israel ...? The content of Obama's letter has left us with only one option, which is to announce our rejection of the letter's proposal and stand against it." JACKSON