Wikileaks - Sahara: When France stabbed Morocco in the back

In 2008 in New York, the former Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of United Nations Sahara, the Dutchman Peter Van Walsum, nailed Algeria to the pillory , stating that the option of independence in the Sahara, was unrealistic.

Enraged, Algiers deployed its checkbook diplomacy to end up with the non-renewal of the UN envoy's post.

But Peter Van Walsum in making this statement, was not expressing his own opinion only, but echoed what was concluded in secret in Paris between the French and Americans.

Indeed, a U.S. diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks revealed that an unprecedented agreement had been reached between Washington and Paris in private on the Sahara issue:

Under the terms of this Franco-American commitment, Washington had prepared a resolution to the UN,which contained a provision describing the independence of the territory of the Sahara, option as "unrealistic".

The U.S had placed the autonomy proposed by Morocco at the center of negotiations, the French had supported the American resolution by their vote in the Security Council.

Except that, to the astonishment of Washington, France turned against this resolution.

American diplomats in Paris let their anger explode against this reversal of the position of France by Nicolas Sarkozy operated with respect to its primary ally in Africa, Morocco: "It seems inconsistent with what the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented as a rapid change in the French position, given the unstable situation in North Africa and concerns about the possibility of a 'failed state' through where terrorists could operate with relative impunity  which astonished the U.S. diplomats.

Americans "regretted" the statement proposed instead by the French  was not as explicit as "what we  agreed during our discussions in private."

The U.S. saw this attitude in Paris,as an action of the "Algerian lobby" within the French government by  Algeria which was once again dangled its financial reserves to buy an anti-Morocco position in Paris.