Morocco - Algeria: Qatar, the secret asset to unlock the diplomatic impasse?

The ambition displayed by Washington to seal a "peace agreement" between Morocco and Algeria in sixty days is shaking up the chancelleries, writes El Iindependiente. This diplomatic acceleration desired by the American team contrasts with the stagnation of the file at the UN, where no substantive negotiations have taken place since 2019. Faced with the deadlock of unapplied resolutions, a little-known option is resurfacing: that of Qatari mediation, the only one capable in the past of having obtained concrete results on this mined ground.

To understand Doha’s credibility on this issue, we need to go back in time and move away from the current crises in Gaza or Kabul. In February 2004, far from the spotlights, Qatar orchestrated the transfer to Agadir of about a hundred Moroccan soldiers detained in the Tindouf camps. This sensitive humanitarian operation, carried out at the request of the Polisario Front as a "gesture of goodwill", had proven the emirate’s ability to navigate between the historical mistrust of the Maghreb. At the time, a Qatari delegation had personally escorted the prisoners, a prelude to the total release of the captives the following year.

Today, the diplomatic machinery of Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is much more well-oiled. Mediation is enshrined in the Constitution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has equipped itself with an institutional architecture dedicated to crisis management, supported by Scandinavian experts. Yet, despite this diplomatic CV and excellent relations with Rabat and Algiers, Doha remains on the threshold. "Algeria and Morocco are our brothers and we have excellent relations with them, but we have not been asked to play any role in this conflict," tempers Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatari diplomacy, specifying: "We believe they can resolve it between themselves."

While the door remains ajar - "If we are asked, we will evaluate it and be willing to facilitate this mediation," assures a Qatari official - skepticism prevails among observers. Experts doubt that Algeria or the Polisario will accept an intervention from the Gulf, fearing a natural alignment of the monarchies. For now, Qatar remains the hypothetical mediator of a conflict that never ends.