Rabat – It is time to find a solution to the Sahara conflict, said former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, stressing that “between Rabat and Algiers things are going in the right direction.”
The negotiations on the Sahara issue continues in Manhasset (New York) under the aegis of the United Nations and the parties “know what they shoud do, and I think it is up to these parties to see that it is time to overcome this conflict and this crisis,” said Moratinos in an interview with the Moroccan French-speaking weekly “le Reporter.”
For the former Spanish top diplomat, “it’s time to find the solution in accordance with international law” because “Maghreb future generations – almost 100 million of Maghreb populations – aspire that the Sahara conflict is overcome and the page is turned.”
Spain, he added, has had “a very clear position, it supported Moroccan efforts and it should be maintained what the United Nations resolutions have been saying loudly and strongly that it should help the different parties to find the necessary solutions.”
Referring also to the positive momentum of Moroccan-Algerian relations, Moratinos stressed the need “to support it so that it leads to reconciliation between Moroccans and Algerians, which is fundamental.”
“I see that there are exchanges of visits at ministerial level between the two parties,” he said, adding that “it is time to go back to the idea of united Maghreb. Everyone asks and waits. I believe that the sooner it will happen, the better for everyone,” said the former top diplomat.
He, however, denounced the closure of the Moroccan-Algerian border. “This is the only border which remains closed. Even after a fierce war between Georgia and Russia, the border is still open,” he said.
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