Morocco’s Ex-PM: King Always Urged Support for Tunisia Amid Diplomatic Crisis

In the eyes of the former head of government, the welcome given by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed to the leader of the Polisario separatists, Brahim Ghali, protected by Algeria and invited to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held on August 27 and 28 in Tunis, is a "very serious gesture on a symbolic level," reports the website Alyaoum24. "The Sahara is Moroccan and is a question of a nation and a people and cannot be abandoned," he said.

Abdelilah Benkirane points out that "Tunisia is going through a difficult situation and suffers from financial problems, while in return, Algeria has improved its financial conditions, but politics is not just money but values and principles." Affirming that the relations between the Moroccan and Tunisian peoples are exceptional, the former head of government revealed that King Mohammed VI has always asked him to help Tunisia and that the sovereign himself has taken actions in this direction.

He refers in particular to the King Mohammed’s stay in Tunisia. He wanted to spend two days in the neighboring country, "but when the sovereign heard that tourists were fleeing the country because of terrorist threats, the king stayed ten days in Tunisia," Benkirane said, adding that he feared for the king’s safety due to the security situation. In addition, "he walked the streets of the Tunisian capital accompanied by a reduced security service."