Moroccan PJD Slams Algerian Islamist Leader Over Maghreb Union and Sahara Remarks

The leader of the MSP aligned himself with the proposal of Rached Ghannouchi, president of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP), who had called for a three-member Maghreb Union excluding Morocco. This union should be composed of Tunisia, Algeria and Libya. Abdelaziz Makri added Mauritania to this list. On the Sahara issue, he promoted the "SADR" and argued for self-determination.

In an open letter, Mohamed Reda Benkhaldoun, former Moroccan ambassador to Malaysia and president of the PJD’s international relations committee, reacted to these statements. According to him, Makri’s remarks go "against the unity of the Ummah, common interests and the ties of brotherhood and good neighborliness". "We had told you that Islamist or pan-Arab parties cannot in any way support a separatist movement, whether in the Arab, Islamic world or anywhere else," he recalled.

Regarding the UMA, Mohamed Reda Benkhaldoun pointed out that the MSP leader took the remarks of the leader of the Tunisian Islamist party, Ennahdha, "out of context". "You took advantage of the statement of Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi, and you took it out of context, you made him say what he never said, and you based your remarks on the fact that cooperation within the UMA is with three countries, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, declaring that he had forgotten Mauritania. But you went further by adding Mauritania but not Morocco, because he introduced the Zionists into the region," he said.

On the Sahara issue, the former Moroccan ambassador to Malaysia recalled that the referendum option has not been on the agenda since 1991 for various reasons, and that the UN special envoy had declared in 2008 before the Security Council that "the independence of Western Sahara is not an option".

Mohamed Reda Benkhaldoun also took jabs at Abdelaziz Makri. "You have stated that normalization (with Israel) was a reason to exclude Morocco and we in turn ask you: what had your party done before to revive the Maghreb union and to put pressure, in this sense, on your respective governments? What was your contribution to the reopening of the borders as called for by the King of Morocco? This shows that you have a problem with Morocco and the latest developments have shown that you are aligning with the official position of the Algerian regime".