France shifts Western Sahara stance, seeking closer ties with Morocco

France has recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. (AP)
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Updated 31 July 2024
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France shifts Western Sahara stance, seeking closer ties with Morocco

  • France, as the former colonial power in the region, has walked a diplomatic tightrope between Rabat and Algiers on the issue

RABAT, Morocco: France has thrown its support behind Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled.
In a letter to King Mohammed VI, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the plan that Morocco proposed in 2007 to offer the region limited autonomy under its sovereignty the “only basis” to solve the conflict. The shift deals a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has for decades claimed to be the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people.
“The present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday. “France intends to act consistently with this position at both national and international level.”
Macron’s move is unlikely to change the key tenets of the territorial dispute but could deepen France ties with Morocco, which has long blamed it for drawing the colonial borders it sees as the root of the conflict. France signaled earlier this year that it was open to investing in Moroccan projects in the disputed territory.
The move could strain diplomatic relations in North Africa, further alienating both France and Morocco from Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front’s claims and allows it to operate as a self-declared government in exile from refugee camps within its borders.
It follows similar shifts from the United States, Israel, Spain and a growing list of African nations that have established consulates in the territory.
In a statement, Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet called France’s shift “a significant development.” A high-ranking Moroccan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity noted France’s role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and called it “a game-changer” amid an international shift toward Morocco’s position.
The move was preemptively rebuked by both Algeria and the Polisario Front in the days leading up to the publication of letter, which Algeria said it was made aware of by France in the days prior.
The Polisario’s Mohamed Sidati accused France of acting at odds with international law and backing Moroccan expansionism as its influence wanes throughout Africa.
“Whatever hardships Morocco tries to impose on us with the support of France, the Sahrawi people will continue to stubbornly defend their rights until they obtain the definitive departure of the Moroccan aggressor from their territory and general recognition of the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination and independence,” Sidati, the Foreign Minister of the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, said in a statement on Monday.
Algeria called Morocco and France “colonial powers, new and old” and announced it would withdraw its ambassador from Paris.
“The French decision is clearly the result of a dubious political calculation, a morally questionable judgment and legal interpretations that are neither supported nor justified,” Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last week.
Western Sahara is roughly the size of Colorado, encompassing a stretch of desert rich in phosphates and sitting along an Atlantic coastline rich in fish. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a regional conflict and putting it at odds with the pro-independence Polisario Front over the region that the United Nations considers a “non-self-governing territory.”
Morocco quickly moved to occupy the majority of the land, fighting off guerilla warfare from the Polisario until the UN brokered a 1991 ceasefire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote prevented the referendum from taking place.
Morocco has long sought political recognition of its claim from its other nations, while the Polisario has prioritized fighting legal battles to assert the people of the region’s right to self-determination.
Sporadic violence has ensued since the Polisario renewed armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce. Morocco has since embarked on expansive economic development efforts, constructing ports, highways and hotels.

 


UN ok’d to send ‘around 100’ aid trucks into Gaza: spokesman

Updated 3 sec ago
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UN ok’d to send ‘around 100’ aid trucks into Gaza: spokesman

GENEVA: The United Nations said on Tuesday it has received permission to send “around 100” trucks of aid into the war-shattered Gaza Strip, as humanitarian assistance trickled back in to the territory.
“We have requested and received approval of more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for UN Office for Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva, adding that “we expect, of course, with that approval, many of them, hopefully all of them, to cross today to a point where they can be picked up and get further into the Gaza Strip for distribution.”


Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital

Updated 2 min 9 sec ago
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Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital

  • The army said its operation which began on Monday was aimed at driving the paramilitaries from their last positions in Khartoum state

KHARTOUM: Clashes erupted on Tuesday between the Sudanese regular army and rival paramilitaries in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, with the army calling the fighting part of a "large-scale" offensive.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said explosions rang out in the area, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had retreated after losing control of the Sudanese capital in March.
The army said its operation which began on Monday was aimed at driving the paramilitaries from their last positions in Khartoum state.
"We are pressing a large-scale operation and we are close to clearing the whole of Khartoum state from dirty thugs," military spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement.
The war since April 2023 has pitted the army headed by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF under his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The fighting comes as both the army and the RSF are attempting to establish their own governments.
On Monday, army chief Burhan has tapped a former United Nations official, Kamil Idris, as a new prime minister -- a move seen by analysts as an attempt to gain international recognition and present a functioning civilian-led government amid the ongoing war.
The African Union on Tuesday welcomed the appointment, calling it "a step toward inclusive governance" and expressing hope that the move will "restore constitutional order and democratic governance in Sudan".
The RSF announced in April it would form a rival administration, a few weeks after signing a charter in Kenya with a coalition of military and political allies.


In recent weeks, the RSF has staged multiple drone attacks on areas around the country, including Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, the seat of the army-aligned government since the war began.
Omdurman, which is situated just across the River Nile from Khartoum, has been a focal point of fighting in recent days.
This week, a days-long electricity blackout hit the whole Khartoum state, following drone strikes blamed on the RSF on three power stations in Omdurman.
Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said on Sunday that the power outages had disrupted health services at the city's major hospitals.
"The magnitude of these drone attacks represents a major escalation in the conflict, with alarming implications for civilian protection," the UN's human rights expert on Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, said in a statement on Monday.
"The recurrent attacks on critical infrastructure place civilian lives at risk, worsen the humanitarian crisis, and undermine basic human rights."
The army has meanwhile launched attacks in areas controlled by the RSF in the country's south, trying to claim territory and cut off rival supply lines.
The Emergency Lawyers, a monitoring group which has documented atrocities on both sides, on Sunday accused the army of killing 18 civilians, including four children, in an attack on Al-Hamadi village in South Kordofan state last week.
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and sparked what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The conflict has carved up Sudan, with the army controlling the north, east, and centre, while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.


EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

Updated 8 min 2 sec ago
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EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats


Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

Updated 17 min 15 sec ago
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Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

  • Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade
  • Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza

GENEVA: Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on Tuesday.

“I have data until end of April and it shows malnutrition on the rise,” Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health, told a Geneva press briefing.

“And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control.”

Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing although aid workers said just five entered.


Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets

Updated 43 min 27 sec ago
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Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets

  • More than 32 percent of Elbit’s revenue came from Israel, where the country has been fighting Hamas

TEL AVIV: Israel’s largest defense firm Elbit Systems reported higher first-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by sales to Israel’s military during its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza and as global defense spending rises.
Elbit said it earned $2.57 per diluted share excluding one-time items in the first quarter of 2025, up from $1.81 a year earlier.
The results were boosted by a 20 percent increase in aerospace sales, largely of precision guided munitions from which revenue rose 22 percent to $1.9 billion.
More than 32 percent of Elbit’s revenue came from Israel, where the country has been fighting Hamas since October 7, 2023. The company has supplied munitions, drones, guided rocket systems, reconnaissance capabilities and other systems.
As numerous global conflicts boosted national defense budgets, Elbit’s backlog of orders reached $23.1 billion. Some 66 percent of the backlog is from outside Israel, while 51 percent of the orders are scheduled to be fulfilled during 2025 and 2026.
“Elbit is well positioned to capture and benefit from the opportunities of increasing defense budgets globally and particularly in Europe,” said CEO Bezhalel Machlis. “We are continuing to invest in increasing our production capacity and optimizing our supply chains in order to address our backlog and the high demand for our products.”
Elbit said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 60 cents a share, the same as in the fourth quarter.