Speaking on the latest developments of the Sahara issue at the House of Advisors' question time,  Fassi Fihri underlined that Morocco will continue to face the incomplete measures and the attempts to split up the Arab Maghreb Union countries that are in much need to move ahead towards an integrated regional space of peace, stability, and solidarity.

     Fassi Fihri said the autonomy proposal made by Morocco in April 2007 to grant substantial autonomy to the southern provinces in the framework of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the kingdom has received full support at the international level. Several friendly and brotherly countries have thus expressed firm support to the initiative deeming it the appropriate framework to reach a final political settlement to this regional issue, he said, adding that this support was reflected at the Security Council through resolutions 1754,1783 and 1813, whose content and provisions have become more clearly and more pertinently in favor of the Moroccan initiative.

    According to the foreign minister, these resolutions have proved that negotiations should take into account the constructive and credible efforts made by Morocco since 2006, and call on the parties to engage in substantial negotiations on the Sahara, based on realism and the spirit of compromise, two cardinal virtues of the Moroccan initiative.

    Fassi Fihri noted that the conclusions of the Personal Envoy of the United Nations  Secretary General, Peter Van Walsum, deeming the Sahara independence an unrealistic and unachievable option, constitute a “major turning point for our national cause at the U.N. due to the dynamic launched by the Moroccan initiative.”

    The resolution, unanimously adopted on October 21 by the Fourth Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, represented a substantial change in the way this committee has dealt with this issue since 1965, the head of Moroccan diplomacy pointed out, adding that the Security Council resolutions and those of the General Assembly  share the same vision and approach on the matter.

    The General Assembly agrees that autonomy is a form of self-determination and supports the negotiation process  based on the resolutions of the Security Council, he went on to say.

    Fassi Fihri recalled that the Moroccan initiative has also benefited from the support of several regional and international powers and bodies, such as the  Non-Aligned Movement, the European Union, and the U.S.

    He also deemed that the Security Council resolution 1813 (April 2008) and the extension of the MINURSO mandate for a one-year period have marked the end of the four rounds of negotiations that coincided with the end of the mandate of the UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, adding that this phase was an occasion to make a comprehensive assessment of the negotiations process.

     The minister also said that Morocco has engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with the United Nations on the different aspects of this issue, notably the nomination of a new personal envoy, the setting up of the appropriate conditions for him to accomplish his mission, the means to overcome the obstacles faced during the four previous negotiations rounds, and the implementation of the Security Council resolutions that back the Moroccan autonomy proposal.

Source: MAP
-News on Western Sahara issue/ Corcas-