U.N. gives priority to Morocco's 'serious and credible' autonomy proposal for Western Sahara
The
United Nations' Security Council gives priority to the Moroccan
autonomy proposal for the Western Sahara issue, a "serious and credible" plan
that is open to enriching and which will be subject to a free
consultation, Interior Minister, Chakib Benmoussa said on Wednesday
before the weekly cabinet meeting. This
proposal, he was quoted as saying by government spokesman, Nabil
Benabdellah, abides by the international legality and promotes the
right to self-determination. Mr. Benmoussa was speaking on the first round
of talks over the Sahara, which took place on June 18-19 in Manhasset,
New York outskirts, between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario
separatists in accordance with the Security Council's resolution 1754
that called for the parties involved in the 30-year-old Sahara issue to
launch direct talks. The Interior Minister recalled that Morocco's
proposal to negotiate an autonomy statute in the Sahara gained large
international support because, he said, it is the only means to unite
all the Sahrawis and put an end to the humanitarian sufferings of "our
brothers in the Tindouf camps," south-western Algeria. Morocco and the Polisario are disputing
control of the Sahara, Morocco’s Southern Provinces, a Spanish colony
that was ceded to Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord. The
Polisario is laying claims to this territory and is holding thousands
of Moroccan in the Tindouf camps. The U.N. Secretary General had called on the
parties to engage in negotiations in good faith and without
preconditions on the basis of the latest developments of the issue with
a view to getting the Sahara issue out of the impasse. Mr. Benmoussa - member of the negotiating
delegation - recalled that the chairman of the Royal Advisory Council
for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS, representing the majority of Sahara
inhabitants), Khalihenna Ould Errachid had asserted during the first
round of negotiations that the autonomy project is the sole consensual
and realistic solution that can settle the Sahara issue, for it
guarantees the respect of Morocco’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and “openly and concretely” recognizes Sahrawis’ legitimate
right to manage their affairs. The official regretted that the “other party
sticks to its old stances and forwards no constructive proposals that
can get the issue out of the current deadlock,” deploring that the
Polisario do not heed “the international community’s calls for good
faith and responsible negotiations.” On the second round of talks, slated for the
second week of this coming August, Mr. Benmoussa affirmed that Morocco
will undertake this round, armed with principles based on the
sovereignty of the north-west African kingdom on its lands, and backed
by the mobilization of all the country’s components. The government spokesman also quoted Deputy
Foreign Minister, Taieb Fassi Fihri (he was speaking at the cabinet
meeting) as stressing that Morocco only negotiates the autonomy
proposal, building on the failure and the inapplicability of the
previous proposals.
Source : http://www.corcas.com