Echorouk doubts Mauritanian neutrality on the Sahara after Bourita visit
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Yabiladi
The Algerian newspaper Echorouk questions Mauritania’s neutrality on the Sahara issue, after Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita’s unannounced visit to Nouakchott. It mentions a discreet visit by a Mauritanian official to Morocco last Tuesday, with no official clarification, according to Echorouk, a outlet close to the Algerian authorities.
The Algerian daily Echorouk, which is close to the authorities, questions Mauritania’s neutrality on the Sahara issue after the unannounced visit to Nouakchott by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita. According to the paper, Nouakchott’s "recent moves" place its policy of neutrality "before a real test".
Echorouk refers to "intense diplomatic contacts" coinciding with Russia’s veto of the US draft resolution, a text which, it says, served Morocco’s interests. It speaks of "growing signs of behind-the-scenes understandings" and asks whether Mauritania is keeping an equal distance between the parties or whether its calculations lean towards the Moroccan approach.
The paper also reports a secret visit by a Mauritanian official to Morocco last Tuesday, where he reportedly met Moroccan officials. This move has not been the subject of any official clarification, which, according to Echorouk, raises "legitimate questions".
In another article, Echorouk links progress on the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic gas pipeline project to fears that Nouakchott could be associated with a Moroccan move to impose a new economic and political reality in the Sahara. The chief executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, confirmed that all the countries concerned had concluded the necessary agreements. Former Algerian diplomat Ammar Belani commented on these statements, judging that Mauritania’s involvement raises a question.
This reaction comes the day after Bourita’s unannounced visit to Nouakchott on 9 November, after the end of the mandate of MINURSO, the UN mission in the Sahara.
