الـعـربية Español Français English Deutsch Русский Português Italiano
Friday, March 29, 2024
Top News

Morocco's proposal to grant substantial autonomy to its Southern Provinces, The Sahara, in a bid to solve the 32-year dispute over this territory will "very likely allow for turning the page of the past, and spare the Sahrawi populations, held against their will in Tindouf Camps (Algeria), further suffering and privation."


The statement was made by a number of Sahrawi dignitaries  accompanying the Moroccan delegation to the second round of negotiations with the Algeria-backed Polisario that is seeking independence of the former Spanish colony. Spain ceded the territory to Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords.
 
The autonomy proposal offers the possibility to shield the region from the threats of instability and the dangers of terrorism, they said.

King Mohammed VI has made it clear in his recent Throne speech that the kingdom will engage in talks to discuss "autonomy and nothing but autonomy." Since it was submitted by Morocco in April, the proposal has gained the support of influential capitals, and was hailed by the UN Security Council as serious and credible.

"I am confident that the whole Sahrawi population supports the autonomy proposal, which offers an opportunity to build strong institutions in a united Morocco," Khalil Edkhil told MAP.

This proposal will consolidate the economic and social boom in the Southern Provinces, and mark a break with the old separatist ideas, which are nothing but “the residue of the colonial era,” he said.
 
“The ball is now in the Polisario court,” said Mr. Edkhil, pointing out that the movement only represents a faint part of the Sahrawi population, and is running against the will of the international community.”

Indeed, voices are speaking out against the Polisario from within. Khat Chahid (Line of the Martyr) is the most eminent among them. It includes influential figures and calls for reforming the Polisario. Its founders have recently vented their avowed rejection of the Polisario leadership, divesting it of legitimacy. This leadership is “illegitimate as long as a legal and democratic congress is not held" and "cannot negotiate with Morocco in the name of the Sahrawis of Tindouf camps," Mahjoub Salek, executive coordinator of Khat Chahid maintained this Wednesday.

The reformist group “clearly expresses today its readiness and will to negotiate with Morocco and with the United Nations about the autonomy initiative,” said Mohamed Saleh Tamek, Wali (super governor) of the province of Oued Dahab and member of the Moroccan delegation.

Omar Hadrami, a former Polisario leader, underlined that Morocco’s autonomy plan provides for organizing a referendum on autonomy, “which responds to the demands of the Polisario.  “Autonomy is thus admitted, and the organization of the referendum on this option is admitted too, the Polisario only needs to suggest this solution to the participants in the 12th congress for discussion, in a free and transparent manner in presence of international observers.”

Like the first round of talks, which took place on June 18-19, the second round (August 10 and 11), will take place in Manhasset in the outskirts of New York, under UN auspices.

The first round had convened in accordance with the UNSC Resolution 1754 of April 30, which calls on the parties to the Sahara issue to “enter into negotiations without preconditions and in good faith,” with a view to “achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.”

The Moroccan delegation includes Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa, Deputy Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, chairman of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) Khalihenna Ould Errachid, head of Morocco's intelligence (DGED) Yassine Mansouri, super governor of the province of Oued Dahab, Mohamed Saleh Tamek and CORCAS Secretary General Maoulainine Khallihenna, along with other top-level government officials from the southern provinces.

Source: MAP
- News and events concerning Western Sahara issue -

 

 This website shall not be responsible for the functioning and content of external links !
  Copyright © CORCAS 2024