While its condemned Algeria’s involvement in this issue, he warned that any attempt to override this mandate will endanger the presence of the mission itself.

As part of its right to respond to some delegations which called for broadening the MINURSO mandate to include a human rights mechanism or for self-determination, Morocco’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Abderrazzak Laassel underlined that Morocco is against any alteration of principles and parameters governing whether the presence of MINURSO in the Sahara or facilitating political negotiations, and warned that any attempt to override the MINURSO mandate would put at risk the presence of the mission itself.

 The Moroccan diplomat expressed his astonishment about Algeria’s use of its right to respond without being named or cited by Morocco while it claims that it is not a party to the dispute over the Sahara.

Laassel denounced Algeria’s stance of misreading UN resolution 1514 and recalled that the Sahara issue is dealt with by the UNSC under Chapter VI of the UN Charter for peaceful settlement of disputes and not as a matter of decolonization as claimed by Algeria which made reference to the latest report by the UNSG.

The Moroccan diplomat recalled also that the UNSC has, in a wise gesture, overlooked the report’s deviations.

News and events on Western Sahara issue/ CORCAS