Dakar: «Moroccan-ness of Mauritania» sparks controversy between Mauritania’s ambassador and a former Senegalese foreign minister

To mark the 27th anniversary of Throne Day, Hassan Naciri, Morocco’s ambassador to Senegal, held a presentation ceremony on July 27 in Dakar for his book titled, “The Moroccan Sahara: The Geopolitical Stakes of Morocco’s Major National Cause,” a work that examines the historical, legal, geopolitical, and security dimensions of the Sahara issue.

The event brought together diplomats, academics, and representatives of Senegalese civil society. The highlight of the ceremony was a verbal exchange between Mauritania’s ambassador to Senegal, Mohamed Ould Abdallah Ould Othmane, and Senegal’s former foreign minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio.

In remarks focused on the historical background of the Sahara dispute, Gadio said Morocco’s historical borders had extended as far as Senegal, arguing that Mauritania had been part of the Moroccan sphere before separating from it. The comments were rejected by the Mauritanian ambassador, who intervened to respond.

The Mauritanian diplomat said, “I listened to Mr. Gadio’s remarks, and I hope this is not the view held by all Senegalese people regarding Mauritania’s position.”

He added, “Let me remind you that your neighbor is Mauritania, and that Mauritanians were the ones who fought the colonial powers in Saint-Louis in the 1900s. Mauritanian battles therefore extended even into Senegalese territory.”

He went on, “Let me remind you that there is a people beside you, a neighboring country called Mauritania, a state covering 1.2 million square kilometers, and it is the country that today guarantees stability in the Sahel region.”

A highly sensitive issue in Mauritania

Following the exchange, Moroccan Ambassador Hassan Naciri stepped in, calling for calm and for dialogue to prevail, while stressing the importance of cooperation and integration among countries in the region in confronting the challenges facing the African continent.

After the ceremony, Mauritanian media outlets criticized the Mauritanian ambassador’s participation in an event devoted to presenting a book whose title “clearly reflects Morocco’s official position on the Sahara dispute,” saying this came despite Mauritania’s stated position of neutrality in the conflict.

The question of the historical relationship between Morocco and Mauritania remains a sensitive issue in both countries. Mauritanian authorities maintain that their country was never part of Morocco and that it has its own independent historical and political identity.

Remarks made in 2016 by the secretary-general of the Istiqlal Party, in which he said Morocco’s historical borders extended from Ceuta to the Senegal River and that Mauritania was Moroccan territory, previously triggered a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Nouakchott.

At the time, Morocco’s Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement describing those remarks as “irresponsible,” stressing “Morocco’s full respect for Mauritania’s sovereignty and its internationally recognized borders.” The Moroccan head of government at the time also visited Nouakchott in an effort to contain the tension and return relations to their normal course.