US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1542

S E C R E T ALGIERS 001542 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR POUNDS AND ABRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, WI, AG, MO, Polisario 
SUBJECT: (S) BELKHEIR STRESSES NEED FOR MOROCCO TO MOVE ON 
WESTERN SAHARA; OFFERS COOPERATION TO DISRUPT TERRORIST 
NETWORKS IN MOROCCO AND EUROPE 
 
REF: A. STATE 134891 
     B. ALGIERS 1508 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Marc Sievers, Reason 1.4 (b) (d) 
 
 1.  (C) Charge delivered ref (a) points confirming that the 
USG has no intention at this time of designating the 
Polisario as a terrorist organization to Presidential Chief 
of Staff Larbi Belkheir July 23.  Noting that U.S. policy 
toward the Polisario remained unchanged, Charge also stressed 
our request for Algerian assistance in reinforcing the need 
for the Polisario to refrain from statements or actions that 
provoked Morocco. 
 
2.  (C) Belkheir expressed appreciation for the confirmation 
of U.S. policy.  He said the Polisario had never been a 
terrorist organization, but was a movement for national 
liberation.  It was true that Polisario officials from time 
to time threatened to resume "armed struggle" against 
Morocco, but it was important to understand the great 
pressure they were under due to the prolonged diplomatic 
stalemate since Baker's resignation and the difficult living 
conditions in Tindouf.  It was essential, he said, that 
"Morocco budge too" or the situation could deteriorate. 
Charge reiterated that Algeria should discourage Polisario 
from provoking Morocco. 
 
3.  (C) Turning to Algerian relations with Morocco, Belkheir 
said Algeria wanted better relations with Morocco, which 
Charge agreed was U.S. policy as well.  Algeria supported the 
UN's efforts to resolve the Western Sahara dispute, most 
recently by signalling its acceptance of Kofi Annan's 
proposed candidate for a new Special Envoy, although Belkheir 
said he was not sure what the Moroccan position was. 
Algeria's view was that efforts to settle the Western Sahara 
should be handled in a UN context; other than the Western 
Sahara, there was no reason that Moroccan-Algerian relations 
could not improve across the board.  "Better bilateral 
relations are even more in Morocco's interest than they are 
in ours," Belkheir commented.  Charge responded that they 
were in both countries' interest, especially since regional 
cooperation continued to founder on the obstacle of 
Moroccan-Algerian mutual suspicions. 
 
4.  (S) Belkheir assured Charge that Algeria was "committed 
to Morocco's stability and security."  Morocco, he said, 
should pay greater attention to the Islamist terrorist 
networks that had developed on its territory and that were in 
turn linked to networks in Europe.  Algeria had considerable 
expertise in this area that it was willing to share with the 
Moroccans if the Moroccans would engage the Algerians. 
 
5.  (S) Comment:  While we defer to Embassy Rabat as to the 
extent to which Morocco may be willing to engage in 
counterterrorism exchanges given existing tensions between 
the two countries, from an Algiers perspective we believe 
Belkheir's offer provides a genuine opportunity to improve 
counterterrorism cooperation, which could in turn help create 
a new political opening. 
SIEVERS