The Moroccan delegation is made up of Foreign Minister, Taïb Fassi Fihri,  general Director of the Moroccan Intelligence Agency (DGED), Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, and Secretary General of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), Maouelainin Ben Khalihanna Maouelainin.  

Mr. Christopher Ross, after the conclusion of the tour works:

At the invitation of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Christopher Ross, delegations from the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front met for in-depth talks in Austria on August 10, 11, according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1871. Talks were held in an atmosphere of serious engagement openness and mutual respect. The two delegations reiterated their intention to continue negotiations as soon as possible. The Personal Envoy will determine the date and place of the next meeting after consultation with the parties.

Delegations from the two neighbouring countries Algeria and Mauritania were also present, at the opening and closing sessions; they were consulted individually during the talks.
The Personal Envoy and participating delegations express their thanks to the Government of the Republic of Austria for its generous hospitality on this occasion.

Statement by Mr. Taieb Fassi Fihri, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, after the conclusion of the tour works:
This is the first round which is being held under the auspices of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, who was appointed in January of this year. The Secretary-General and Security Council request from the Personal Envoy to continue the efforts of the international community, by applying the recent Resolutions of the Security Council concerning the Moroccan Sahara, Resolution 1813 in April 2008, and Resolution 1871 in April 2009.

The Resolutions which illustrate the road map to reach a political solution to this regional dispute.
These resolutions praise the Moroccan autonomy initiative which clearly sets up the constants: territorial integrity and national unity of the Kingdom of Morocco.
In addition, the resolutions call on all parties to engage in serious negotiations, with deep spirit of realism and compromise.
Finally, this resolution, under which we are operating, is the political space of the Security Council; the Security Council is the one which determines the road map. This round is "unofficial, "and was an opportunity for the Moroccan delegation to prove the seriousness and legitimacy of the initiative which was welcomed by the international community as based on efforts of credibility.

During these two days, the Moroccan delegation explained the features of this initiative. We also said that it exactly completely and totally suits the set road map. It is a serious and credible background on which we can work.

We note with regret that the other parties are still wedded to an outdated vision. They still talk about some mechanisms that we tried in the past. We tried to apply first the road map and other schemes, which showed over time, despite the will of the Kingdom of Morocco, they are not the ground of a solution.

I repeat, as all Moroccans know, that the Sahara is Moroccan, and it will remain so. They are efforts made by Morocco to reach a solution at the international level. There is no other possibility outside this map road identified by the Security Council.

Source: Corcas

News and events concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas