The North Africa Journal – Nov 8, 2018: The fate of the contested Western Sahara territory and a regional leadership context continue to poison relations between Algeria and Morocco, two countries that have substantial similarities and massive interests in seeing their economic relations progress. Morocco’s claims of sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory has faced resistance from the Polisario Front, a pro-independence movement that is primarily supported by Algeria. But the latter sees the issue as one of international dimension and refuses to be drawn into one-to-one talks with Morocco so as to keep it international. Indeed, other major African nations that do not agree with the Moroccan claim include Nigeria and South Africa.
