Gara Djebilet Mega Project: Why is this project the focus of Moroccan media interest? Is Morocco really in the right? Is the convention signed in 1973 really binding on Algeria?

Since the Algerian government's decision to revive the strategic Gara Djebilet mine project (1), all of the official and unofficial Moroccan media outlets have been talking about this issue, highlighting Morocco's alleged historical right to the Gara Djebilet mine. For the Moroccan side, Hassan II is said to have accepted the borderline between Morocco and Algeria in exchange for a usufruct right to the Gara Djebilet mine. Unfortunately for the Moroccans, the documents signed and ratified between Morocco and Algeria do not say the same thing (2), and we will come back to this in detail in this article, in order to definitively deconstruct the Moroccan propaganda, for internal use, and whose aim is to anaesthetize the Moroccan people by letting them believe in the possibility of recovering a past greatness that never existed.

Before answering the Moroccan allegations, let's try to explain in a few words this mega project of Gara Djebilet, what is it about? 

1) The Gara Djebilet mega project in a nutshell:

The Gara Djebilet mine is an iron ore mine located in the wilaya of Tindouf in Algeria, which began operating in July 2022; it is one of the largest iron ore mines in the world. Its reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons, of which 1.7 billion tons are mineable. The Gara Djebilet deposit covers more than 131 km², and its mineable reserves are estimated at 2 billion tons of ore with an iron content of 58.57%.

The industrial exploitation of the Gara Djebilet ore is divided into two phases:

• Phase 1 (2022-2025): a planned production of 2 to 3 million tons of ore per year;
• Phase 2 (from 2026): when the railway line between Gara Djebilet and Abadla (wilaya of Bechar) comes into service, production will be increased to 50 million tons/year.

The Algerian project goes beyond the exploitation of the ore, the objective is the establishment of a value chain that will allow the transformation of the ore into high value-added products: it is therefore an integrated project that will allow our country to become a world leader in the steel industry and will allow us to stop importing iron ore (Algeria currently imports 1 billion dollars of iron ore per year). The expected revenues are of the order of at least 10 billion dollars by 2026.

2) Why is this project of interest to the Moroccan media?

With the stage set, let's turn to the question of the interest of the Moroccan media in this Algerian project. It is common knowledge that there is no freedom of the press in Morocco; free and honest Moroccan journalists are either in prison or in exile. The media in Morocco is a sounding board for the country's politics. Since its independence, Morocco has put a lot of energy into propagating the theory of a Greater Morocco among the population: school curricula, audiovisual propaganda, constitution, etc. Moroccan nationalism is built on the following triptych:

• Hate Algeria: the more you criticize Algeria, the more you are perceived in Morocco as a patriotic person;
• Belief and promotion of Moroccan expansionist theses: Western Sahara and all the territories that Morocco must/should recover to complete its territorial integrity according to the theses of the Great Morocco theory;
• Worship of the king, who is considered a sacred and inviolable person by the Moroccan constitution.

It is therefore a question for the Moroccan press to remain in the official line of the party, and to be coherent with the expansionist theses of Morocco. This is the first reason why there is a lot of talk about this project in Morocco. The Moroccan media's mission is to make Moroccans believe that Morocco has not signed or ratified any document that recognizes Algerian sovereignty over territories that Moroccans consider theirs.

The second reason is part of the 4th generation war that Morocco (3) is waging against Algeria: it is a question of the Moroccans systematically devaluing Algerian achievements, and creating a climate of suspicion within Algerian society in order to demoralize the living forces of the nation.

The third reason is that Morocco does not look favorably on this project, because it will make the region of Tinduf one of the richest regions of Algeria, this project will have very positive socio-economic effects on the entire region of south-west Algeria. This will deal a fatal blow to the Moroccan propaganda that does a lot of marketing and advertising on the imaginary achievements of Mohamed VI in Western Sahara in particular.

3) Is Morocco really in its right?

No, as is often the case, expansionist Morocco is not in the right when it comes to territorial claims.
Algerian President Tebboune had said in jest at a press conference that :

"the Moroccans claim everything they can see, and claim half of what they have heard of"

Morocco is therefore not in its right, and this for two reasons: 

A) History : 

From a historical point of view, the territories of the wilaya of Tinduf, claimed by the Moroccans, have never been Moroccan. This is also the case for the whole Algerian territory. If the Moroccans want us to do the accounts, they would be surprised to learn that it is Algeria that has lost 80,000 km² of its territories that were offered by France to Morocco in 1845 (cf. Treaty of Lalla Maghnia). Moreover, the excellent Dr. Mohamed Doumir has published a video on Youtube that explains precisely that Morocco has no historical rights over Tinduf.

B) International Law:

From the point of view of international law, Morocco has no rights over the Gara Djebilet mine, as Morocco has signed and ratified the Convention on the delimitation of borders of June 15, 1972: Morocco therefore recognizes the full Algerian sovereignty over the Gara Djebilet mine.

Moreover, contrary to Moroccan allegations, there is no causal link between the convention relating to the delimitation of borders and the cooperation convention between Algeria and Morocco for the development of the Gara Djebilet mine, which are two separate documents. In other words, the non-application of the cooperation convention between Algeria and Morocco for the development of the Gara Djebilet mine does not imply the cancellation of the convention relating to the delimitation of borders and vice versa.

4) Is the convention signed in 1973 really binding for Algeria?

Let's take a closer look at the famous cooperation agreement between Algeria and Morocco for the development of the Gara Djebilet mine. The Moroccan side, especially the many "specialists" in international law who tell us day and night that this convention is binding on Algeria and that Morocco will take Algeria to court, while other Moroccan "specialists" threaten Algeria with a ground invasion to "take back" the wilayas of Bechar and Tinduf.

In section B of article 17 of the cooperation agreement between Algeria and Morocco, which deals with disputes that may arise from cooperation between the Moroccan and Algerian parties, it is stated that the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal is limited to disputes relating to the management and operation of the S.A.M. (Algerian-Moroccan company) or to disputes of a technical or commercial nature Moreover, the arbitral tribunal is not entitled to interpret the convention.

We can say that the Algerian negotiators have been well inspired on this case, because there is no possibility of recourse for the Moroccan party to attack Algeria for the non-application of the convention, because no court is empowered to interpret the convention and the S.A.M. (Algerian-Moroccan company) has never been created.

We return the question here to the Moroccan "specialists" like Manar Slimi and other Moroccan impostors that we see on TV sets or social networks: can you enlighten us? How do you intend to attack Algeria before the arbitration tribunal in Geneva?

5) Conclusion :

Contrary to what Joseph Goebbels once said, it is not because you repeat a lie a thousand times that it will necessarily become a truth. The Moroccan media apparatus is trying to impose its truth which has absolutely nothing to do with what international law says. This article has demonstrated that the Moroccan position is not based on anything factual, it is useless posturing that will not change the reality on the ground. The Gara Djebilet project has started with our Chinese partners and nothing can stop it.

The Moroccan media propaganda will continue its lies to satisfy internal consumption and keep the Moroccan people under anaesthesia. In Algeria, this propaganda will have no effect on our determination to move forward to make our great country an emerging power, which will be able to bring peace, stability and prosperity for all the friendly peoples of the region.

(1): Presentation of the mega project of Gara Djebilet: https://odysee.com/@AlgerianPatriots:7/video-33-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%BA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%85-%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B1:5?r=6Y2vxitqjbUXREVdK22pSbA4Q6rfgAzn
(2): Extract from the Algerian Official Journal of June 15, 1973, containing the convention relating to the delimitation of borders and the convention of cooperation between Algeria and Morocco for the development of the mine of Gara Djebilet: https://www.joradp.dz/FTP/Jo-Francais/1973/F1973048.pdf
(3) Manar Slimi, a Moroccan impostor: https://dzpatriotsenglish.blogspot.com/2022/07/manar-slimi-moroccan-fraud.html