"We deal with the international community with a positive spirit, and it is on this basis that we shall participate in the negotiations," which the Security Council called for in a resolution passed late April to solve the Sahara dispute, Mr. Benabdellah, who is also spokesman for the government, said at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting.
The issue involves Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists, who are disputing control over the Sahara, Morocco's Southern Provinces. The territory was a Spanish colony and was ceded in 1975 to the North African kingdom under the Madrid Accord signed with Spain and Mauritania.
Stressing the country's respect of the international legality, Mr Benabdellah underlined that Morocco pleads for a peaceful approach to “overcome this artificial problem in order to buckle down to the challenges of development and go forward in the edification of the Union of the Arab Maghreb” (UMA), a regional union that gathers Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria, and which is stalemated because of this very dispute.
Touching on Algeria’s recent statements on the Sahara issue and on the building of the UMA, Mr. Benabdellah recalled that Morocco has always stressed on Algeria’s direct involvement in the Sahara issue, adding that these recent statements “corroborate these affirmations.”
“What matters for us is to put everyone in front of their responsibilities before the international community, and under the auspices of the United Nations, so as to be aware of who wants peace in this region through the final settlement of this issue.”