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Bouteflika parle du Maroc et du Sahara occidental

ID:70010
Date:2006-07-01 11:15:00
Origin:06ALGIERS1219
Source:Embassy Algiers
Classification:CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Dunno:
Destination:VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAS #1219/01 1821115
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011115Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1480
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1316
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 8466
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1868
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 1356
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 6204
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0358
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0365

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 001219

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2016
TAGS: PREL, PBTS, WI, MO, AG
SUBJECT: BOUTEFLIKA ON WESTERN SAHARA, RELATIONS WITH
MOROCCO


Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman: Reasons 1.4 (b), (d)

1. (C) Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and
Counterterrorism Frances Fragos Townsend met with President
Bouteflika for three and a half hours June 18. NSC Senior
Director for Combating Terrorism Michele Malvesti and DCM
accompanied Townsend. Bouteflika's Counterterrorism Adviser
Rezzag Bara and a notetaker were also present. This cable
reports their discussion of the Western Sahara and relations
with Morocco.

2. (C/NF) Well into the meeting, Bouteflika raised Western
Sahara, noting that U.S. visitors always wanted to discuss it
with him. Townsend noted that President Bush had asked both
Bouteflika and Moroccan King Mohamed VI to find a way to
resolve their differences. Townsend said the President
appreciated Bouteflika's role in last summer's release by the
Polisario of the remaining 404 Moroccan prisoners, noting
that "this would not have happened without your courage."
She asked Bouteflika about his view on fully resolving this
issue. .

3. (C/NF) Bouteflika responded that as the world's biggest
power, the U.S. should respect the decisions of the UN on the
Western Sahara. He recalled that in his first meeting with
President Bush in 2001, the President had asked him to work
faithfully with James Baker and he had done so. Bouteflika
noted that he had supported the Baker Plan, even though he
would not have done so without President Bush's request.
Now, he said, Algeria was "stuck in the middle" with Morocco;
"we reject anything they accept and vice versa." Bouteflika
commented that despite this stalemate, he had made two
important decisions: the Western Sahara would never be a
casus belli for Algeria, and he had made clear to the
Moroccans that Algeria had no claims on the Western Sahara's
territory or resources.

4. (C/NF) Bouteflika asserted that there was no bilateral
problem between Algeria and Morocco. The Moroccans, he went
on, claimed the Western Sahara was an issue between Morocco
and Algeria. "I would solve it if I could," he stated, "but
I cannot speak for the Sahrawis." Morocco and the Polisario
must find a solution, and they can do so with American help.
Algeria will support any agreement reached by Morocco and the
Polisario. But, Bouteflika cautioned, a solution cannot be
imposed on the Sahrawis. In that case, Algeria will defend
to the end the Sahrawis' right to self-determination.

5. (C/NF) Bouteflika complained that Algeria was in a
situation whereby any gesture toward Morocco would be held up
by the Moroccan side as the beginning of a process of working
out a settlement bilaterally with Algeria. "So I do not want
to shake the King's hand." However, Bouteflika said he had
recently met the King's brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, in
Seville, where they were both guests of King Juan Carlos.
Bouteflika observed that he had found he could have a broad
discussion with Moulay Rachid. "We joked and chatted
comfortably," Bouteflika commented, "but I cannot do this
with the King, we do not have the same sense of humor!" He
added that he could also joke with the King's late father,
King Hassan II. King Mohamed, however, "is not open, and he
lacks experience." In a rare moment of self-criticism,
Bouteflika said he had found his own weak point: he believed
others should resolve problems through dialogue, but he did
not believe in dialogue for himself with Mohamed VI.

6. (C/NF) Townsend said the Western Sahara continued to be a
matter of great interest to President Bush. She added that
the lack of a settlement was impeding regional cooperation on
counterterrorism and preventing the Maghreb from achieving
the level of economic relations that it should enjoy.
Bouteflika suggested that James Baker would be a good source
of advice to the President, he was a man of "exceptional
qualities." It was a "shame Baker quit," Bouteflika
commented. He then wondered whether the President might
convince Baker to resume his previous role. Bouteflika
concluded that offering concessions to Morocco would be
tantamount to "giving a bonus to the most undisciplined
student in the class." The U.S. "should not award Morocco's
bad behavior."

7. (U) Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and

Counterterrorism Frances Fragos Townsend has cleared this
message.
ERDMAN

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Cable/malas/relaciones/Buteflika-Mohamed/VI/elpepuint/20101203elpepuint_18/Tes

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