King Of Morocco Snubs Aid Pledges From France For Earthquake Victims

LAGOS SEPTEMBER 11TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The King of Morocco has snubbed aid pledges from France amid tensions over their shared colonial history and a deepening political rift with Emmanuel Macron.

King Mohammed VI, known for his frosty relationship with the French president, has not responded to offers from French aid groups and the French government to assist victims of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit Morocco in a century.

French aid workers have spoken of their frustration about not receiving the green light from Moroccan authorities to enter the country and get to work, even as the death toll in the disaster nears 2,500.

“Unfortunately we still don’t have the go-ahead from the Moroccan government,” said Arnaud Fraisse, the founder of the French aid group First Responders Without Borders. He added that he did not know the reason for the “blockage”.

Later on Monday, Mr Fraisse withdrew his offer to Morocco as the so-called golden period, in which most earthquake victims are found alive, had already elapsed. “Our role is not to find bodies,” he told the Associated Press.

It came as a British team of 60 rescue specialists and four search dogs arrived in Morocco, having been transported by two Royal Air Force A400M aircraft that were provided by the Ministry of Defence.

The apparent snub from the Moroccan ruler has surprised French aid workers who feel they would be well-placed to assist due to technical expertise and the fact that French is widely spoken in Morocco.

Morocco has numerous historical grievances with France, which ruled over the North African state as a colonial power until independence in 1956.

Pierre Vermeren, a French historian and professor at the elite Sorbonne University, said the refusal of aid was a “clear political sign”.

“We know the diplomacy of King Mohammed VI,” he told the news agency AFP. “He likes to send messages, make swipes, to indicate when he is angry.”

In addition to colonial tensions, current relations between Mr Macron and the king are at a fairly low ebb.

A planned visit by the French president to Morocco has been repeatedly delayed and the post of Moroccan ambassador to France has been vacant for months. At the same time, Morocco is pressuring France to recognise the disputed Western Sahara region as Moroccan territory.

Mr Macron’s attempts to seek rapprochement with neighbouring Algeria, which Morocco regards as a major regional rival, are also said to have irritated the Moroccan monarch.

On Monday Catherine Colonna, the French foreign minister, rejected suggestions of a snub and insisted that it was up to Morocco how it chose to process aid requests.

“[Morocco is] the master of its choices, which must be respected,” she said, rejecting the debate in France about an apparent snub by leaders in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, as “inappropriate”.

France has pledged €5 million (£4.29m) to aid and rescue groups already on the ground in Morocco, she added. Germany has also pledged support to Morocco without a response, but German officials insist there are no political grounds for this.

Spain, meanwhile, has sent 86 rescuers to Morocco after their offer of support was accepted by Rabat, while Gulf states Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also sending in specialists.

Moroccan officials have said they are assessing the aid requests because “a lack of coordination could be counterproductive.”

French media reported that King Mohammed VI was in France when the quake struck but immediately returned to Later on Monday, Mr Fraisse withdrew his offer to Morocco as the so-called golden period, in which most earthquake victims are found alive, had already elapsed. “Our role is not to find bodies,” he told the Associated Press.

Morocco has numerous historical grievances with France, which ruled over the North African state as a colonial power until Later on Monday, Mr Fraisse withdrew his offer to Morocco as the so-called golden period, in which most earthquake victims are found alive, had already elapsed. “Our role is not to find bodies,” he told the Associated Press.