New York (UN) – Morocco has agreed, many years ago, to enter into a negotiation process aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Morocco’s ambassador to the UN said on Tuesday.
Mohamed Loulichki said, during a debate by the UN Security Council on the Sahara issue, that this process which was initiated thanks to the Moroccan autonomy initiative “remains the only framework likely to give rise to a mutually acceptable political solution.”
The negotiation process, Loulichki continued, requires a “political will, a spirit of compromise and realism and a sustained commitment to ensure its success.”
It “is enhanced by a regional context and a momentum in bilateral relations, shared by the five Maghreb countries,” he further said.
The diplomat insisted that “the Sahara issue is not a question whose solution would hinge on the sophistication of the MINURSO’s mandate.” The Sahara issue, he explained, has a history and that history is closely linked to that of the Maghreb region.
For Loulichki, the “dispute over the Sahara can only have a political solution taking account of its immediate and future political environment . It is for this reason that the issue is handled by the Security Council and that is why a Personal Envoy was appointed to assist the parties to reach a negotiated political solution.”
On the report prepared by the UN Secretary-General, Loulichki said that it “raises challenges to MINURSO”.
“If one wants to talk seriously about challenges, why not mention terrorism? This is a major threat that is rapidly becoming a major issue for the stability of the entire region,” he said, regretting that “the report only skims over this phenomenon without any elaboration or analysis of its implications.”
And “serious events occurred with the kidnapping of three foreign nationals from around the Tindouf camps, but almost nothing is said about that in this report. Are the events which occurred North of Mali not in our immediate neighbourhood, which is sufficient evidence of the risks that threaten the stability of our region?” he wondered.
Morocco is “ready to work with you (the Security Council) and with the other parties towards this solution. It is ready to significantly contribute to achieving this compromise solution. Our autonomy proposal maintains all its relevance and its value,” Loulichki said.
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