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Remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch
Update on North Africa
House Foreign Affairs Committee
June 6, 2007

Chairman Lantos, Representative Ros-Lehtinen, and members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the status of our relationships with the countries of North Africa.

Over the past few years, our relationship with the four North African countries - Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco - has undergone an enormous expansion. With two of these countries - Tunisia and Morocco - our friendship and cooperation go back centuries. In Algeria and Libya, however, we are working to build the foundation for relationships that we expect to grow in importance in the coming years as they continue to emerge from war and isolation, respectively. Altogether, these countries are home to around 80 million people, which is a significant portion of the Arab world's population. While North Africa is unquestionably connected in tradition, culture, and religion to the Middle East, it is also unique in its strong ties to Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe. This distinctive regional identity offers challenges and opportunities unique unto itself.

The countries of the Maghreb have traditionally been regional leaders in social, economic, and political reform. That history has been undermined, however, by poor governance, regional tensions, economic difficulties, and instability resulting from internal conflicts and terrorism. Therefore, the goal of U.S. policy is a secure, moderate, and more unified Maghreb by promoting political and social reform, economic growth, and counterterrorism partnership.

Terrorism is perhaps the most pressing of the issues that the Maghreb faces. The merger in September 2006 between Al-Qaida and Algeria's primary homegrown terrorist group, the GSPC, marked the beginning of a troubling trend that we have since seen across the Maghreb. The number of spectacular terrorist attacks in the region has risen, terrorist groups are using tactics and attacking targets that they had previously avoided, and terror cells have been discovered in places where they had not been seen before. We also are seeing evidence that the region's terrorist groups are increasingly attempting to build ties with each other and with the global jihadist network. These groups pose a threat to the governments of the countries in which they are operating, but they also pose a strong threat to foreign - and particularly U.S. - interests. Since December, we have seen attacks launched at American interests in both Algeria and Morocco, and a plot to attack U.S. interests foiled in Tunisia. The large diaspora communities from the Maghreb living in Europe provide for the possibility that these groups could launch attacks there as well.

The good news is that our counterterrorism cooperation with each of the countries of the Maghreb has been excellent, and, on specific threats, very effective. The North African security forces all have considerable experience in battling a domestic terrorism threat, and have been able to stop many plots before they could be launched. Our interlocutors continue to be responsive to our concerns and together we have achieved numerous successes in the fight against extremism. For example, since 2002 in Tunisia and 2003 in Morocco, there have been no successful mass-casualty attacks. Though terrorists were able to launch a major attack on the Prime Minister's office in Algiers on April 11 of this year, the overall situation on the ground is far better than it was ten years ago, when the country was in the midst of a civil war.

Nonetheless, the new challenges posed by the recent shifts in terrorist activities in the region require that we confront the threat in new ways. We are increasingly using technical assistance to help the governments of the Maghreb track and block terror financing streams and are engaging them to enforce UN Security Council resolutions against terrorist financing. Another tool that has been increasingly effective is the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, through which we are building counterterrorism capacity both in the Maghreb and in sub-Saharan African states affected by the spillover of these terrorist groups. This partnership also serves a longer-term objective: enhanced regional and sub-regional cooperation and the deepening of integration between the countries of the region. We believe that this goal is critical, as Al-Qaida's increasingly regional and local focus in North Africa must be countered by increased cooperation between governments of the region and between the region and the U.S.

In this regard, I am pleased to report the first serious movement in the Western Sahara conflict, which has been stalled since James Baker resigned as UN Special Envoy in 2004. The dispute over the Western Sahara remains an obstacle to increased regional integration and this impedes U.S. policy interests. Settlement of the crisis would offer real hope in strengthening political, economic, commercial, and counter-terrorism cooperation for the Maghreb and Sahel. Unresolved, the crisis leaves approximately 90,000 Sahrawi people languishing in refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria and the territory a potentially attractive safehaven for terrorist planning or activity.

Over the past several months, the United States has engaged in intensive efforts with all parties involved to find a realistic and workable solution in the UN context. In this regard, we welcomed Morocco's recent initiative to resolve this dispute, are encouraged that it has spurred discussion, and believe that it has created an opportunity for Morocco and the Polisario to come to an agreement on this long simmering problem. We consider the Moroccan proposal to provide real autonomy for the Western Sahara serious and credible. It is the result of months of work and preparation by Morocco.

The United Nations Security Council recently approved a six-month extension of the MINURSO mandate. The resolution took note of "serious and credible Moroccan efforts to move the process forward towards resolution" and calls on the parties to enter into negotiations without preconditions, and also notes a proposal submitted by the Polisario Front. A unanimous vote on the mandate reflects international resolve that the dispute is long overdue for settlement. We have raised with the UN our support for direct negotiations without preconditions, as called for in the resolution, and hope that they will begin in earnest later this month so that Morocco and the Polisario are able to set aside differences and create a better future for the Sahrawi people.

Any settlement of the Western Sahara must take into account the concerns of the Sahrawi people and be consistent with their right of self-determination. Both Morocco and the Polisario have agreed to negotiations, and Morocco has affirmed to United Nations that its proposal would be subject to a vote by the people affected.

I hope that by the next time I speak with this committee, a dialogue led by UN Envoy Van Walsum will have made real progress. Direct talks between Morocco and the Polisario will not be easy. The parties will need the support of the international community and Congress to find common ground and look at new ideas. While we understand that initial disagreement between the Polisario and Morocco is likely, we expect both parties to engage constructively and work through differences. We also hope that other countries in the Maghreb will encourage the sacrifice needed to reach an agreement that would have positive consequences for the stability of the Maghreb and foster further growth and reform.

Morocco has led the way in commitment and progress towards overall reform, yet remains hindered by a non-diversified economy and rapid population growth. We seek to build upon the Moroccan reform agenda and make the government more responsive to citizen concerns and to enable Moroccans to benefit from the global economy. The recently signed U.S. Morocco - Free Trade Agreement and Morocco's Millennium Challenge Account eligibility will strengthen the country against a dangerous terrorist trend reflected in the increased number of terrorist cells identified and disrupted since the summer of 2006.

Our expanding relationship with Libya presents its own set of possibilities. Very few bilateral relationships in recent memory have changed as quickly as the Libya-U.S. relationship has over the past three years. Libya's renunciation of WMD and MTCR-class missile programs was historic and Libya has worked closely with the U.S., UK and international organizations to implement that commitment. All items of concern have either already been destroyed or are planned for destruction under specific trilateral agreements or Libya's international obligations. We have made significant progress in the elimination effort and, to date, the Libyan nuclear program has been completely dismantled; over 3000 chemical munitions have been destroyed; chemical agents are awaiting destruction; and Scud-C missiles have been removed.

In response to Libya's renunciation of terrorism, we rescinded its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism on June 30, 2006. In the year since that decision, the State Department and our Embassy in Tripoli have continued to pursue a diplomatic agenda with Libya which is critical to our national interests. Resolution of the claims pending against Libya remains our most important objective. In addition to protecting the interests of the American citizens who were victims of Libya's past terrorist activities, our other pressing activities include assisting in the ongoing dismantlement of Libya's WMD programs, cooperation on counterterrorism, seeking an end to the crisis in Darfur, and encouraging greater protection of human rights, including by encouraging the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor imprisoned on charges of deliberately infecting over 400 Libyan children with HIV.

With regard to the pending claims, those such as LaBelle and Pan Am 103 have been at the top of our bilateral agenda both before and since the reestablishment of direct relations. Although the U.S. Government is not a party to any of the cases pending against Libya, we have played an active role in ensuring Libya lives up to its commitment to act in good faith with regard to their resolution. Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte recently traveled to Libya to discuss how best to work with the Libyan government to end the crisis in Darfur. While there, however, he raised the claims in every meeting in which he participated.

Our commitment to our citizens is unwavering and we remain optimistic that resolution of these cases will eventually be reached. Libya continues to reaffirm its commitment to respect any court judgments against it, even as it pursues out of court settlements for many of the cases. The U.S. government will continue to pursue its diplomatic agenda with Libya to implement its 2003 terrorism and WMD commitments and to work toward increased respect for international human rights and democratic norms.

In closing, I want to mention briefly the importance of the relationships we have in Algeria and Tunisia. In Algeria, a country still transitioning away from a socialist, one-party past, we are working with the government to help advance its political and economic reform agenda. We do this in part through a large group of technical assistance programs funded by our Middle East Partnership Initiative. We retain our focus on helping Algeria fulfill its goal of building a work force for the 21st century through education programs. While progress has sometimes been uneven, Algeria has clearly come a long way over the past ten years. It has made significant progress on human rights, though it has more work to do. It has paid down its debt and registered considerable economic growth. Trade between our two countries has ballooned, and Algeria is now one of the largest trading partners of the United States in the Arab World. Our challenge is to continue to build on this progress.

Tunisia has been a regional leader in social and economic reforms with the strongest non-petroleum economy in the Middle East and North Africa, including rates of growth averaging five percent for the last ten years and the highest GNP per capita in the region. Tunisia also boasts North Africa's lowest poverty and unemployment rates. U.S. assistance over the past three decades has helped Tunisia create this ripe environment for economic growth. Our pressing issues remain the slow pace of political reform and poor performance on human rights. The Tunisian leadership has shown considerable reluctance to address these issues, but we will continue to press them, including through our Middle East Partnership Initiative and sustained bilateral engagement. Our bilateral security relationship with Tunisia is strong, with close cooperation in counterterrorism and counterproliferation which we will seek to maintain through robust security assistance programs.