Algeria recalls its ambassador to France over support for Moroccan plan for Western Sahara

Jul 30 () –

The Algerian government announced on Tuesday the withdrawal “with immediate effect” of its ambassador to France, Said Musi, and has downgraded diplomatic relations to the level of chargé d’affaires in retaliation for Paris’ decision to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency APS that with this decision the French government “disregards international law” and assumes “the denial of the right of the Sahrawi people to their own self-determination.”

He also said that France “is turning away from all the persistent efforts made by the United Nations to complete decolonisation and is abdicating its particular responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council.”

“This step, which no other French government had previously thought necessary, was taken with great haste and naturalness, without clearly weighing up all the possible repercussions,” the ministry added.

Macron has addressed King Mohammed VI in a letter in which he stressed that he considers that “the present and the future of Western Sahara are framed within Moroccan sovereignty.” He has taken this step in the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Day of the Throne, which commemorates the inauguration of the monarch.

“Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant,” he said, before stating that the objective is a “lasting and negotiated solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”