Moroccan experts unanimously agree that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is waging an “immoral revenge war” against their country, due to Rabat’s political stance on Arab issues, most notably the siege of Qatar and the war in Yemen and Libya.
During the past few days, Morocco was subjected to an attack by UAE-sponsored “electronic flies”, accusing the country’s government and its president Saadeddine Othmani of failing to contain the coronavirus crisis and to secure the population’s needs, while rumouring that Morocco is heading into a famine.
The term “electronic flies” is used by activists to describe the troll-like social media accounts that pump out propaganda messages. In their response to the attack, Moroccan media launched the hashtag. “Thank you Othmani”, which went viral on social media platforms. In a symposium entitled “Beyond the electronic flies attack on Morocco: Backgrounds and targets” organised by the local news website Banassa on Thursday evening, political analyst Manar Al-Salimi stated: “We are talking about an immoral and revenge war that the UAE is waging against Morocco, which can be interpreted in multiple directions.”
Al-Salimi added:
There is an excruciating war going on and “electronic flies” are one of its manifestations. He pointed out that Morocco is a “well respected country with a strong historical influence,” reminding Abu Dhabi that Rabat “was the UAE’s guarantor to join the United Nations. The political analyst described the war launched against his country as:
“A retaliation against its political stances, most notably Morocco’s refusal to endorse the siege of Qatar and the war in Yemen and Libya; in addition to expressing its unwillingness to interfere in the ongoing conflict in Libya, after planning the Skhirat Agreement initiative, which has been hindered by General Khalifa Haftar, the UAE’s protégé.”
In December 2015, the Libyan warring parties signed a political agreement in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, which resulted in establishing the Presidential Council of Libya to lead the Government of National Accord (GNA), extending the parliament’s mandate, and forming the Supreme Council of State.
However, Haftar sought for years to block and cancel the accord. On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain decided to cut ties with Qatar, after accusing the Qatari authorities of supporting terrorism. Consequently, Doha denied these allegations, and condemned what it referred to as a “defamation campaign based on lies and fabrications”.
Journalist Abdel Samad Benabad confirmed that the attack launched by the UAE-sponsored “electronic flies” failed to. Disrupt social and political harmony in Morocco during a time when all national components came together to combat the pandemic. Benabad added that Morocco managed to move from: “A stage of steadfastness to proving a sense of creativity in facing the coronavirus pandemic, in a way that tempted many Western countries to discuss positively the Moroccan experience. We heard French politicians talking about it with admiration.”
He indicated that the Western world’s admiration for the Moroccan endeavour to contain the spread of the virus: “Has angered those who refuse to recognise successful experiences, and prompted them to use electronic flies to attack Rabat. However, Morocco countered the attack and managed to frustrate the scheme and exposed the perpetrators and the ill intentions behind the vicious campaign.”
As for Khaled Al-Shayat, a political analyst and professor of international relations at Mohamed I University in Oujda, he considered that the campaign launched by the UAE is. A profitable business for the people who work in it. However, the attack has no tangible effect on the image of Morocco in general, as it is restricted to the virtual world.
Al-Shayat confirmed that: “This method is part of a general tendency to sabotage other countries and is a sign of bad faith in directing foreign policies. He continued: “We will not be surprised if there is an attack on the territorial integrity of Morocco, because no one can anticipate to what extent these countries can be hostile, due the fact that these states are still emerging and act recklessly.”
Abu Dhabi has not made any comment on the aforementioned accusations.
Source: Middle East Monitor