"It is the best resolution the Security Council has ever adopted to put an end to the conflict of the Sahara,"  underlined the Gabonese President upon receiving Morocco's ambassador to Gabon, Ali Bojji. 

     The Gabonese President reiterated  his country's "firm" and "constant" support for Morocco and its proposal to grant a substantial autonomy to its southern provinces, noting the fact that most African countries support Morocco on this matter.

    The UNSC had adopted unanimously resolution 1813 over the Sahara, endorsing the call for realism and a spirit of compromise launched by the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy for the Sahara.

    The Sahara conflict broke out in 1976 when the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists claimed independence of Morocco’s Southern Provinces (The Sahara).

    A former Spanish colony, this territory was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord signed with Spain and Mauritania.

     Morocco and the Polisario entered in direct talks, under the aegis of the United Nations. Four rounds have been held so far. A fifth round is planned but no date has been set.

    A turning point took place lately when Peter van Walsum, the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General to the Sahara said the independence of the Sahara was an "unrealistic" option.

    Van Walsum’s remarks were confirmed by the United States, which declared before the UNSC that independence was “not a realistic option,” and that autonomy under the sovereignty of Morocco was the “only possible solution.”

News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas