MIDDLE EAST-AFRICA-- SOUTH ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A002400050001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 19, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Release 2006/03/17 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02400050001-1
Confidential
HIL
Middle East -Africa -South Asia
State Department review completed
Confidential
No. 0890/75
December 19, 1975
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 CONFIDENTIAL
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This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com-
munity by the Middle East - Africa Division, Office of Current Intelligence,
with occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of
Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to
the authors of the individual articles.
Algeria-Morocco: Harassment of Moroccan
Nationals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ivory Coast-South Africa: South Africans
Visit Abidjan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Dec 19, 1975
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Algeria-Morocco
Harassment of Moroccan Nationals
Algiers is venting its anger over Morocco's
move into Spanish Sahara by harassing Moroccan
nationals living in Algeria. Some 200 Moroccans
living in the western Algerian city of Oran have
been arrested and more than 300 other Moroccans
have been deported. Rabat will almost certainly
soon retaliate in like manner.
The official Algerian media assert that those
being expelled are illegal residents.
however, the Algerians are in
fact confiscating permits from Moroccan workers and
then expelling them.
The Algerians are clearly frustrated by the
growing Moroccan presence in northern Spanish Sahara.
A press report from Rabat indicates the deportations
began on December 11, the same day Moroccan troops
were officially welcomed in the Saharan capital of
El Aaiun.
Algeria's harassment tactics have alarmed the
estimated 350,000 Moroccans living in Algeria.
Algiers may continue these tactics on a selective
basis, but probably will not attempt to expel the
entire Moroccan community.
Dec 19, 1975 1
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Ivory Coast - South Africa
South Africans Visit Abidjan
Ivorian spokesmen have acknowledged in recent
discussions with US officials that recent press
reports of a South African delegation visiting
Abidjan in late November were indeed true, and that
landing rights for South African Airways in Ivory
Coast were among the subjects discussed. The press
reports also speculated that the South Africans
raised the matter of opening a consulate in Abidjan.
The visit falls within the context of President
Houphouet-Boigny's determination to encourage a
dialogue with Pretoria and the exchange of visitors.
Last month, for instance, the Ivorian information
minister paid a much-publicized visit to South Africa.
When querried about the possibility of a South
African consulate in Abidjan, one Ivorian foreign
ministry official said he thought the establishment
of relations with South Africa was a "certainty" and
would come "very soon." The US embassy believes,
however, that the Ivorians are likely to proceed
cautiously in moving toward closer ties with Pretoria
because of the adverse publicity being given to South
Africa's role in Angola and the mounting criticism
of South Africa by members of the Organization of
African Unity.
In discussing landing rights, one Ivorian official
would go no further than to say that the matter was
"being worked out" for South African Airways. This
contrasts sharply with remarks to the press by a member
of the South African delegation on returning to Pretoria,
who said that all obstacles to regular use of Abidjan
"had been removed." One Western diplomat in Abidjan
also reports that an actual agreement had been negotiated.
With the OAU's continent-wide trade union affiliate call-
ing once again on all African countries to ban flights
of foreign aircraft to and from South Africa, it would
be surprising if Ivory Coast had chosen this time to
grant landing right to South African plans.
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Confidential
Confidential
Approved For Release 2006/03/17 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02400050001-1