On Saturday, the Algiers International Channel Al 24 news received a warning from the Secretariat General of the Arab League after the Algerian Channel published a map of the Kingdom of Morocco without its southern provinces.
According to its official statement, the Arab League stated that “it does not adopt any official map showing the political boundaries of Arab states, including the Kingdom of Morocco, adding that the map of the Arab world adopted does not show the borders between states in consolidation of the precept of Arab unity.”
The General Secretariat also urged all media to be very vigilant in attributing news published on their websites to the Arab League or its institutions, in addition to denying having any media partners, says MAP.
تحذير هام:
تنفي الأمانة العامة لجامعة الدول العربية أن يكون لها أي "شركاء إعلاميين" في تغطية أعمال #القمة_العربية الحادية والثلاثين التي تُعقد بالجزائر، وتؤكد عدم وجود صلةٍ لها بأية مؤسسة إعلامية تدعي هذه الصفة……. تابع: https://t.co/tesP6RCffW pic.twitter.com/e0tTVJes0X— جامعة الدول العربية (@arableague_gs) October 29, 2022
This caused the Moroccan delegation to remain in the room and protest against the failure of the Algerian channel to respect the official map adopted by the Arab League. This debunks the ‘unfounded’ reports circulating on the fact that the Moroccan FM, Nasser Bourita, left the venue of the preparatory meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab Summit following a dispute with the head of Algerian diplomacy, according to a high-level diplomatic source.
The same source adds that “it is neither in the habits nor in the customs of the Moroccan diplomacy’s action, in accordance with the High Instructions of HM King Mohammed VI, to leave the meeting room, but to defend within these meetings Morocco’s legitimate rights and its vital interests.”
This was followed by the Arab League issuing a clarification and the chairmanship of the session to apologize. Moreover, the Algerian channel issued an apology stating that it must have been “a technical error from the graphics department.”
قناة الجزائر الدولية تعتذر عن استخدام خريطة للوطن العربي غير تلك المعتمدة من الجامعة العربية
قناة الجزائر الدولية تؤكد أن ذلك لا يعدو إلا أن يكون خطأ فنياً من قسم الجرافيكس pic.twitter.com/r0jANzwnoh— AL24news – قناة الجزائر الدولية (@AL24newschannel) October 29, 2022
In his tweet, the Algerian journalist Oualid Kebir explained that the channel had violated laws by publishing a map that did not correspond to the officially approved map of the Arab world by the League in its news report on Morocco.
The same source continued: “the Sahara is Moroccan, I say that as an Algerian who believes in Morocco’s unity and sovereignty over all its territory.”
قناة الجزائر الدولية تلقت انذار من جامعة الدول العربية ونشرت الان الخريطة الرسمية😂😂😂
داو قرصة😂😂😂 ايا ما تعاودوش
الصحراء مغربية اقولها كجزائري مؤمن بوحدة وسيادة المغرب على جميع اراضيه #القمة_العربية https://t.co/gcwCypyjjl pic.twitter.com/8U6us346Pv
— وليد كبير Oualid KEBIR 🇩🇿 (@oualido) October 29, 2022
Oualid Kebir sent a message to officials on the channel, saying, “let this channel know that the largest Arab meeting was and is about the Moroccaness of the Sahara”, noting that “the slogan of reunification can not be raised by those seeking to divide an Arab country.”
The map officially adopted by the League of Arab States is one that shows all Arab States, including the Kingdom of Morocco, within their borders respecting their sovereignty and territorial integrity.