Rwanda’s Sahara position: Algeria caught again fabricating misleading facts

Algeria’s regime has once again been caught disseminating false information regarding Rwanda’s alleged support for the Polisario Front’s separatist agenda in Sahara.

The regime’s mouthpiece media echoed disinformation in which the separatist group claimed that President Paul Kagame had reaffirmed Kigali’s support for its self-determination and referendum claims in recent comments.

Pro-Polisario websites, including Algeria’s regime press agency, asserted that these comments emerged during a discussion between President Kagame and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, about tensions and conflicts in Africa. They claimed both leaders emphasized their supposed shared support for the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination through a free, fair, and transparent referendum.

However, these assertions were swiftly and directly refuted by Kigali mere hours after the Polisario press and Algeria’s news agency published their reports, marking another setback for Algeria’s increasingly exposed narrative on the Sahara dispute.

In stark contrast to the statement reported by Algerian state media, Kagame’s official website published a communiqué detailing his remarks without any explicit or implicit mention of Rwanda’s support for the Polisario.

To Algeria’s dismay, this reflects a direct contradiction to the Algerian regime’s disinformation campaign aimed at challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces.

The Moroccan autonomy plan has gained substantial international backing over the past few years, with numerous countries endorsing the Moroccan proposal as the most serious and credible political roadmap to resolve the dispute over Sahara.

The latest endorsement came from one of the UN Security Council’s permanent members, the UK, which on Sunday expressed support for Morocco’s autonomy plan as the most viable path to a lasting and politically realistic resolution of the lingering territorial dispute.

While Rwanda is one of the few countries that still recognizes the self-styled SADR, it does not align with Algeria’s consistently combative anti-Moroccan narrative. Following King Mohammed VI’s historic visit to Rwanda in 2016, Rabat and Kigali have continuously pledged to strengthen relations across various sectors. Discussions have particularly focused on enhancing bilateral ties in agriculture, trade, and high-level political cooperation on a range of strategic challenges facing the continent.

The two countries signed several agreements during the royal visit, including a memorandum of understanding on a political consultation mechanism, an air service agreement, a visa exemption agreement, and a deal on security cooperation and tourism.

In recent years, both nations have emphasized the importance of maintaining or improving their bilateral cooperation. This spirit of mutual support was notably displayed when Rwanda backed Morocco’s return to the African Union in 2017.

This latest fabricated news from the Algerian and Polisario media highlights their desperation to undermine Morocco’s growing momentum in the Sahara dossier. As more countries embrace the Moroccan autonomy proposal as the best chance for peace and prosperity in the region, many observers believe Algeria’s ongoing attempts to challenge Morocco’s momentum will not restore the prestige and legitimacy that its narrative once enjoyed.