MOROCCO: MR. EL OTHMANI’S MISSTEPS IN MALI
HASSAN MASIKY
Washibgton/ Morocco News Board– Morocco’s swift denunciation of the Touareg rebel’s declaration of independence for the Azawad region in Northern Mali seems out of touch with the feelings of large segments of the Moroccan public. Foreign Minister El Othmani’s decision to issue a statement rejecting Azawad independence was deemed by Moroccan nationalists and Amazigh activists as a “rush of judgment” and “not in the best interest” of Morocco and its national cause (i.e. the conflict over Moroccan rule in Western Sahara).
After more than thirty-five years of diplomatic efforts fending off attempts by the Algeria backed Western Saharan Separatists to set up an independent state in the Sahara, most Moroccans do not back the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) quest for independence but sympathize with Touareg demands for having more say in running the Azawad. Some in the Moroccan press, voicing the feelings of their readers, wanted to see Morocco as a mediator in the Malian territorial dispute rather than taking sides in this complex conflict.
Moroccan Amazigh organizations “expected” their Foreign Minister to be more receptive to the demands of the Amazigh people of the Touareg region, defend them from allegations of terrorism, and offer a solution that would preserve the unity of the Malian state and protect the right of the people of Northern Mali. In short, Morocco should have offered a plan, similar to its proposed local-autonomy plan for the Western Sahara, as a resolution to Azawad conflict. In doing so, the Moroccan diplomacy would unveil to the world the merit of its plan for the Sahara and help resolve the Tuareg conflict.
When presumed members of an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) branch with the aid of local Polisario members kidnapped European aid workers from the Tindouf Camps, the world passed up accusing the Polisario Front of terrorism. Yet, when AQIM and Ansar Dine fighters forcibly took over territories previously liberated by MNLA, several nations and some international observers were ready to accuse the MNLA of aiding terror group. MNLA and Tuareg nationalists are the world communities’ best allies in the fight against Al-Qaeda in the Sahara and Sahel region. The MNLA leadership made it clear that cleansing Azawad of terrorists is a top priority.
