Western Sahara denounces France’s plan to fund projects in disputed region

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own but an Algeria-backed independence movement demands a sovereign state

By Reuters
April 08, 2024
A Saharawi man holds up a Polisario Front flag in the Al-Mahbes area near Moroccan soldiers guarding the wall separating the Polisario controlled Western Sahara. — AFP/File
A Saharawi man holds up a Polisario Front flag in the Al-Mahbes area near Moroccan soldiers guarding the wall separating the Polisario controlled Western Sahara. — AFP/File

CAIRO: France’s intention to use the French Development Agency (AFD) to fund projects in the disputed Sahrawi regions is a “provocative” step, Algerian state media reported on Sunday, citing a statement from Western Sahara’s Information Ministry.

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own but an Algeria-backed independence movement demands a sovereign state.

“This is a dangerous escalation of France’s hostile stance towards the Sahrawi people,” the ministry statement said, adding France’s plan “represents explicit support for Morocco’s illegal occupation of parts of Western Sahara.”

The statement came after France’s foreign trade minister, Franck Riester, visited Morocco last week. According to an article in France’s Le Monde newspaper, Riester indicated that the AFD, via its private sector financing arm Proparco, could help fund a project involving a high-voltage power line between Dakhla, Western Sahara’s capital, and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.

“The Sahrawi government once again calls on all countries of the world and the public and private sectors to refrain from carrying out any activity of any kind in the Sahrawi national territory,” the statement from Western Sahara’s Information Ministry said.