The King of Morocco has given instructions to help Algeria, which is facing serious forest fires, especially in Upper Kabylie.
Morocco said it was ready to help Algeria in fighting against the deadly fires that have been laying waste to the north of the country for several days, especially in the Kabylie region. “Two Canadairs have been mobilized to participate in this operation, pending agreement with the Algerian authorities,” the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on Wednesday.
According to the same statement, King Mohammed VI gave instructions to the government to express “the keenness of the Kingdom of Morocco to help Algeria fight the forest fires, which are wreaking havoc on several regions of the country.
This statement comes a little less than two weeks after the traditional speech of the Feast of the Throne, which celebrates each July 31 the enthronement of Mohamed VI as king, in which the Moroccan monarch invited his Algerian counterpart, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune “to show wisdom” and “work in unison for the development of relations” between the two neighboring countries.
This goodwill gesture was very noticeable as relations between Rabat and Algiers have been strained for decades, due to Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front, which disputes the Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, despite the fact that it is recognized by most of the countries of the world, including the United States of America.
On December 10, 2020, just before his departure from the White House, former U.S President Donald Trump had officially recognized Western Sahara as Moroccan territory. Since the installation of his successor in Washington, Joe Biden, the Saharawi independence fighters and their Algerian mentors hoped that the new American administration would reverse this decision. On the contrary, at the end of June, the new U.S administration announced that it would maintain its recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
At least 69 people have died so far in dozens of fires ravaging the north of Algeria since August 9, as firefighters, soldiers and volunteers are trying to deal with them.
LOS/cgd/fss/abj/APA