Algerian Critic: Regime Spent $500 Billion on Anti-Morocco Propaganda in Sahara Dispute

Algerian policy on the Moroccan Sahara issue has cost the Algerian people dearly, criticized Anouar Malik. The former Algerian army officer stated that the propagandist discourse of Algerian authorities against Morocco and its Southern provinces contrasts with the reality on the ground, indicating that he had visited Laayoune and other cities in the Moroccan Sahara several times and was surprised by the "stability, security and development" of these provinces.

The Algerian opponent also noted the "cohesion of the population, its attachment to the Moroccan national identity and the Moroccanness of the Sahara", maintaining that these populations live in "security, dignity, proud of their country, their history and their civilization". However, Anouar Malik denounced the situation of Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps where they have been living in "camps for 50 years", assuring that he had witnessed their suffering as a former officer who worked on site.

Anouar Malik confided that he recently asked a retired Algerian general in Paris what are "Algeria’s interests as a state" in the Sahara conflict, recalling that more than 500 billion dollars have been spent on this issue. But he did not get a convincing answer from the general who replied that "we care about nothing else but hindering Morocco’s development" and that "if Morocco develops, it will be bad for us".

Because of this Algerian policy that has "tarnished its reputation", we have "lost our Moroccan brothers", lamented the human rights defender who regrets that his country is considered as supporting "separation, terrorism, instability and targeting the territorial unity" of Moroccan brothers and other states. "The Algerian people are a unitary people" and wish for the end of this issue, he assured, calling for unity between Algerians and Moroccans.