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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 May 1999 Issue No. 428 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 May 1999 Issue No. 428
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Special Focus Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Breaking the ice
By Dalal Abu GhazalehRelations between the two North African neighbours, Algeria and Morocco, have been marked for decades by suspicion, regional rivalry and historical differences. However, some observers believe that this might change with the inauguration of Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika as Algeria's new president. Worried Moroccan officials remember him as the former foreign minister who was responsible for handling the contentious issue of the Western Sahara in the 1970s.
"How can a man who controlled the Western Sahara portfolio at the height of the dispute change his mind now and seek to improve ties with Morocco?" a Moroccan official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Al-Ahram Weekly after results of the 15 April presidential election in Algeria were announced.
In spite of such initial reservations regarding the new president, King Hassan II of Morocco was the first world leader to congratulate Bouteflika on his election. Other top officials were quoted as expressing hope that relations between the two major Maghreb countries would improve.
Bouteflika, in his election campaign, described the decision to close the border between the two countries as "good and bad". He said it was good because it put a stop to drug trafficking and smuggling but bad because it affected the livelihood of many, especially those in the border towns. He acknowledged the need for a solution to the Sahara dispute and a reopening of common borders closed in 1994 after a terrorist attack against a Moroccan hotel in which suspected Algerian militants were involved. Morocco reacted by imposing visa requirements on Algerians wishing to visit the kingdom. Algeria's riposte was to close the borders which soured political, economic and social relations between the two countries. Bouteflika did not rule out the possibility of talks for a comprehensive settlement of all outstanding issues.
Several politicians and diplomats who spoke to the Weekly did not expect a breakthrough on relations with Morocco this coming year as Bouteflika is expected to devote his attentions to internal matters and to establishing his own legitimacy. This is expected to be difficult given the last-minute withdrawal by the six candidates running against him in the presidential race. Their allegation was that the results were already rigged in Bouteflika's favour. He will have an opportunity to demonstrate his skill as a regional statesman during the upcoming summit meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to be hosted by Algeria in July.
The summit might also provide a rare opportunity for top-level meetings between Algerian and Moroccan officials. A senior Arab diplomat told the Weekly that such a meeting could "pave the way for a fresh start" in relations between the two countries and added that both African and Arab countries would assist in the process "if they found good faith" on both sides. "However, much will depend on who Morocco will send to the summit and the extent of his authority to address the existing problems," he added.
Analysts say the biggest incentive for improving relations lies in the plan to revive the long-dormant Arab Maghreb Union which, along with Morocco and Algeria, included Tunis, Mauritania and Libya. The main goal of such a Union is to prepare the region for a duty-free trade zone with the European Union by the year 2010 which would bring economic benefits to the whole region.
The Moroccan monarch has expressed his reluctance in the past to accept economic and political measures implicit in such an agreement but recently expressed a willingness to see the revival of the Maghreb Union. The king made this statement during a March visit by Tunisia's President Zine El-Abdine bin Ali to Marrakech where the Union was first declared 10 years ago. Bin Ali has since sent his foreign minister to Algeria to press the case for reviving the Union.
The king, who will turn 70 in July, may be considering his own political legacy and the problematic issues that could face his successor Crown Prince Mohamed. Last year he took the unprecedented step of appointing an opposition leader, Abdel-Rahman El-Youssoufi, as head of a coalition government. The monarch has also shown greater flexibility on the Western Saharan issue by accepting a United Nations plan for a referendum to decide the future of the former Spanish colony which is rich in phosphates and fisheries.
To Algeria these measures and the king's statements about relations between the two countries count more than the repeated attempts by his socialist prime minister, El-Youssoufi, to reopen the borders. According to one Moroccan analyst "the files of both the Western Sahara and relations with Algeria are in the hands of King Hassan's loyal aide", meaning those of Interior Minister Driss Basri. Youssoufi is highly respected in Algeria but the authorities there "feel he has little to offer without the good faith of the king and Basri".
Economic considerations are acknowledged to be the key factor in relations between the two countries. The pipeline that has carried Algerian natural gas to Spain through Moroccan territory for the past two years is evidence that cooperation exists and is possible. Recent statements by Moroccan officials of plans to extend the pipeline for use in generating electricity for remote villages in the north indicates that cooperation can benefit both parties.
Both Algeria and Morocco agree that the long-standing dispute over the Western Sahara should not stand in the way of better economic relations. Both countries suffer from high unemployment rates -- around 20 per cent in Morocco and up to 30 per cent in Algeria -- and are keen to set up new projects that will create jobs for their mostly young population of 28 million and 30 million respectively.
