A senior Moroccan delegation will participate, on January 7-9 in Manhasset (New York outskirts), in the third round of these negotiations aiming to reach a final and mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara dispute, opposing Morocco to the Algerian-backed separatist movement the Polisario.
The delegation will include Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa, Foreign Affairs Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, Chairman of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) Khalihenna Ould Errachid, chief of Morocco's intelligence (DGED) Yassine Mansouri, super governor of the province of Oued Dahab, Mohamed Saleh Tamek, and CORCAS Secretary General Maoulainine Khallihenna.
This important participation reflects Morocco's will to implement the U.N. Security council resolutions of 1754 and 1783, which have marked a radical rupture with the anterior plans and proposals, and lead the way to end this regional dispute.
The resolutions also highlighted the significance of the Kingdom's proposal to grant the Sahara a substantial autonomy that was welcomed as "serious and credible" by the Security Council and other capitals around the world.
The first and second rounds of negotiations were held respectively on June 18-19 and August 10-11 in Manhasset at the invitation of the UN Secretary General, which called on the parties to “enter into negotiations without preconditions and in good faith,” with a view to “achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.”
Besides Morocco and Polisario, the negotiations were attended by delegations from Morocco’s neighbors, Algeria and Mauritania in the presence of the U.N. facilitator.
Talks between the two parties have already been held in the past, but failed in reaching a solution to the dispute over the Sahara, a former colony that was ceded by Spain to the North African country in 1975 under the Madrid Accords. However, a year later, the Polisario, backed by Morocco’s eastern neighbor Algeria, started claiming sovereignty over the territory and even waged a war on Morocco which lasted until 1991 when the U.N brokered a ceasefire.
Source: MAP
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