Why Mohammed VI canceled his participation in the Arab League summit

Although announced in Algiers, the King of Morocco will ultimately not participate in the Arab League summit. Since the invitation was officially sent by Algiers, Mohammed VI has cast doubt.

We were waiting for Mohammed VI, we will finally have Nasser Bourita. It is indeed the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs who will take part in the Arab League summit which begins this Tuesday, November 1 in Algiers.

However, the King of Morocco had not been insensitive, according to sources close to the palace, to the gesture of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who had officially invited the Cherifian sovereign during the trip to Morocco by his Minister of Justice. The latter had given a letter to Nasser Bourita. And the latest press articles suggested that the king had accepted the invitation, but only Algerian sources had confirmed.

A smooth campaign: the Moroccan palace has indeed carefully avoided communicating - both officially and unofficially - on the arrival of Mohammed VI in Algiers, leaving it to the international press to make the announcement. And the king the possibility, if necessary, to reverse his decision without giving the impression that he had changed his mind. Mohammed VI, according to Bourita, decided to make "his position known at the last moment". A way also to appear in the foreground and to be the only attraction of the summit.

Tensions during the preparatory meeting

But Mohammed VI finally declined the invitation. A change of direction in particular due to other absences. Several heads of state, starting with those of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but also of Jordan and Kuwait, were slow to say that they would not go to Algiers. Mohammed VI didn't want to be lonely, so he backed off.

Another element that made the Moroccan palace change its mind: the preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers. As often, the presentation of a map of Morocco that did not include the part of Western Sahara claimed by Morocco angered the kingdom's foreign ministry. The Cherifian delegation also castigated the attitude of "the Algerian security guard" assigned to the Moroccan delegation and an incident at dinner time, which irritated Nasser Bourita. The palace therefore simply decided, after this preparatory meeting, that the conditions were not met for a serene welcome from the King of Morocco.

Finally, the press played a big role in the royal decision. On the one hand, Morocco has not digested the attacks suffered by the king in the Algerian press. On the Algerian side, it is estimated that the summit was sabotaged by the Cherifian press, which notably let the noise of the presence, however unplanned, of the president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Brahim Ghali spread. "False allegations" and "defamatory" which, according to Algiers, had the sole purpose of "attempting to harm" the summit.