Sahara

Last month Macron made a state visit to Morocco, during which he declared French support for Moroccan claims to sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

The row comes at a time of worsening tensions between Algeria and France, triggered by President Emmanuel Macron’s recent recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

America recognised Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat signing the Abraham Accords and thereby recognising Israel.

Macron's invitation to Morocco came from King Mohammed VI, two months after his royal court hailed France's change of heart on Western Sahara as a "significant" development.

“We haven’t even colonized the Sahara desert, the bottom of the oceans or the moon, because it makes no economic sense,” the physician Danielle Teller observed nearly a decade ago.