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Fighting Terror… The North African Way
Mohamad Al Ashab Al-Hayat 2003/11/23
Based on the war on terror, the American administration put the Western Sahara and the region of the African Coast on its schedule, the fact that suggests many possibilities that the subject would be to pave the way to reorganize the American presence in the region of North Africa. On one hand, it has started to adopt the thesis of improving the Moroccan-Algerian relationships, on the background of reactivating the economic partnership plan with Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. While on the other hand, it seemed interested in ensuring a military and political presence at the African south expansion of the North African region. The fact that is equal to the greater concern in Africa that some of its capitals included the American President George Bush's last visit. The conformation of his commitment to 'destroy terror in the Sahara and the coast region,' as he mentioned in his letter to Moroccan King Mohamad VI days ago means only that the files that were absent in this African visit might be prevented in the agenda of activities in the region of North Africa and on the warm line considered as the line of oil through the supplies of the Western Sahara.
What is remarkable in the American assurance is that it comes in synchronization with the activities of European capitals concerning the region of North Africa. French President Jacques Chirac visited Morocco in order to balance his visit to Algeria, while the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will visit Algeria before making a stop in Morocco next month. On the American side, there was the visit of the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns.
If it was considered that Spain is seeking to incarnate the British role in the Middle East at its south borders in North Africa, this certifies more that the region is ahead of drafting new balances, some of them are like the European-American competitions, and others are an expansion to a new American vision based, mainly, on the assumption that where there is terror, America would be.
As long as the American endearment is requested currently, the Algerians would be happy that Washington adopts a point of view towards the internal terror that is closer to that of the power. While the Moroccans would be reassured to the fact that the place of an American base would not be in a new North African country. The fact is that the Mauritanians would be concerned with any solution for the case of the Sahara that would not affect the demographic and geographic structure of their country. Do such calculations disagree with the American vision, especially France and Spain that are pushed to more competition over the region of North Africa? Also, which influence would be to enhance the American presence in the south bank of Europe, while a revision has started about forming a European defense force outside of NATO?
Anyway, the war against terror had an international character. What used to separate Rabat from Algeria, concerning issues such as borders, the Sahara and the difference between both political and economic systems, is no longer valuable in opposition to the terrorism phenomenon, which is striking anywhere. The participation of the Europeans in the 5+5 Summit in Tunisia to discuss the matters of illegal immigration, drugs and organized crime, or what they describe as 'the threats coming from the south,' means only that terror has become very important just like the political interests and calculations. The difference being that the inclination to fight it is divided between the universal war that America wants to dominate the world, and the one adopted by the Europeans to stop the immigration and the development of extremism among millions of the resident emigrants. But the eyes are wide open to the region of North Africa and are as much as the expansion of the transfer of the American priorities.
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