Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXIV, North Africa

84. Telegram From the Embassy in Morocco to the Department of State¹

11419.

Rabat, November 25, 1987, 1751Z

SUBJECT

• Filali Sees Upturn in Algerian-Moroccan Relations.

1. (Secret—Entire text)

2. Summary: Filali told Ambassador Nov. 25 that Algeria and Morocco are moving toward reestablishing diplomatic relations early next year, and that three joint subcommittees would meet in Morocco in mid-December to work on various political/economic/technical issues. He said the GOA was willing to discuss the Sahara as a bilateral issue. The UN Mission currently visiting the area is a favorable factor for Morocco. Filali thinks that after the mission submits its report to the SYG next month² the SYG will visit Rabat and Algiers in January to help resolve the issue. End summary.

3. I saw Filali November 25 at my request and asked him first about his weekend visit to Algiers (other subjects septel).³ Filali was very positive about his meetings there, saying that this was his first real official visit to Algeria, i.e., there were all the trappings of meetings, press coverage, an official dinner in his honor and a return lunch the following day by the Moroccan side.

4. More to the point, Filali said he felt the Algerians (he met with both President Bendjedid and FonMin Ibrahimi) were for the first time willing to discuss realistically the Saharan dispute and to treat it as a bilateral issue (rather than pretending that Morocco had to deal only with the Polisario). The Algerians, he said, had suggested that both sides think about ways to resolve the dispute. The Algerians had indicated they were tired of the issue and Filali acknowledged Morocco was also. The Algerians would like to see the Western Sahara issue resolved in a Maghreb context. Additionally, both sides have agreed to a cessation of negative press reporting.

5. Filali said prospects are good that Morocco and Algeria can reestablish diplomatic relations after the first of the year. The two sides have agreed to meet again in Morocco in mid-December. Three subcommittees—political, economic/finance and cultural/consular affairs—as envisioned following the Hassan/Bendjedid summit of May, will hold detailed discussions. The talks will be supervised at the Secretary-General/Secretary of State level of the respective MFAs and will include reps from other ministries (Interior, Transportation, etc.) as needed.

6. Filali noted that MFA SecState Moulay Ahmed Cherkaoui had already gone to Mauritania and Royal Counselor Ahmed Reda Guedira would be going to Tunis tomorrow to brief the immediate neighbors on the talks in Algiers.

7. On the current UN Mission to the Western Sahara, Filali said he felt the visit was so far very positive for the Moroccans. Filali envisions that the UN team will be presenting its report around mid-December and that some time in January Perez de Cuellar would very likely plan to visit the region to offer his ideas on a settlement. He said he saw the UN Mission role as not only technical and exclusively focused on referendum modalities but also on the broader political aspects of resolving the conflict.

8. Comment: This is a sharp change from Filali’s negative comments to me prior to his trip to Algiers. He has never been so buoyant about prospects for improvement of relations. His readout contrasts considerably with the output of the propaganda machines on both sides during the first days of the UN Mission visit. We have, of course, been disappointed before—notably on the lack of follow-up to the Hassan-Bendjedid summit last spring. It is certainly too early to conclude that Algiers has decided to drop the Polisario—particularly given the recent combat. Filali seemed genuinely optimistic that the two sides were no longer talking past each other and were beginning to engage on real problems. If Algeria and Morocco in fact move to formal relations next year, it will inevitably mean some redimensioning of the status of the Polisario, at a minimum.

9. Comment continued: We note Hamdani’s downbeat assessment of the meeting (Algiers 7248).⁴ This contrast could mean we will be treated to a rerun of the post-Hassan-Bendjedid meeting, when contrasting assessments also reflected competing agendas, not just between Algeria and Morocco but internally as well. Clearly Filali’s comments suggest the GOM believes (or wants to believe) that that period is over.

Nassif

1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D870971–0161. Secret; Immediate. Sent for information to Algiers, Tunis, Nouakchott, London, Paris, Casablanca, USCINCEUR, and USUN.
2. In telegram 4503 from USUN, December 24, the Mission reported: “Secretariat official Diallo expects that the report to the SYG of the UN technical team (TT) to Western Sahara, now under preparation, will be factual description of demographic and infrastructural data needed to implement an eventual self-determination referendum in the territory, and will make no specific proposals for achieving a ceasefire or agreement on holding a referendum.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D871051–0126)
3. See footnote 5, Document 272.
4. In telegram 7248 from Algiers, November 25, Johnstone reported that Hamdani “called the visit ‘unfortunate’ since Filali brought nothing new on the Western Sahara. He expressed readiness to improve Algerian-Moroccan bilateral relations and said GOM wants to participate in wider Maghreb consultations that Algeria is now promoting. Hamdani insisted that resolution of the Western Sahara problem and those other issues are inescapably linked.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D870969–0934)