Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
Algeria on Saturday called Washington’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory “illegal.”
The U.S. decision “has no legal effect as it stands against with all UN resolutions,” read a statement of the Algerian Foreign Ministry.
The declaration, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 10, would “undermine the de-escalation efforts that have been made at all levels in order to pave the way for launching a real political path” and convince the disputing parties to get unconditionally engaged in UN-brokered dialogue with the support of the African Union, it added.
“The prevalent conflict in the Western Sahara is a case of decolonization which can be solved only through the implementation of international conventions and the prevailing doctrine of both the United Nations and the African Union relating to this issue,” it noted.
The Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania at the end of Spain’s colonial rule in 1976. When Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979, Morocco moved to occupy that sector and has since asserted administrative control over the whole territory. Fighting broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara.
A cease-fire deal was signed in 1991. The United Nations deployed a mission that year to monitor the cease-fire and to organize, if possible, a referendum on self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. Enditem
