This unequivocal support has been clear both at the level of the Security Council and the General Assembly, whose latest resolutions confirm how far the two bodies see eye to eye on this question.

    Indeed, both bodies have called for substantive negotiations on the basis of realism to reach a consensual political solution and stressed the need to maintain the momentum created thanks to Morocco's efforts to get out of the status quo.

    For international experts and observers, this positive development is not fortuitous, but is well part of recent developments in the handling of this issue at the level of the international body.

    In April, the UN has clearly maintained, through its outgoing mediator, Peter van Walsum, that the option of the independence of Sahara is unrealistic and unattainable.

    Far from being the result of a hasty analysis of the ins and outs of this question, the Dutch diplomat's conclusions are, rather, the result of three years of mediation, four rounds of negotiations and numerous missions in the region along with high-level contacts with influential international players.

    Van Walsum, whose professionalism, seriousness and integrity are widely recognized, has then concluded that the previous plans were inapplicable and insisted that the negotiation process should focus on the one and only feasible solution to this conflict, namely a broad autonomy under Morocco's sovereignty.

    "My conclusion that an independent Western Sahara is not an attainable goal is relevant today because it lies at the root of the current negotiation process," van Walsum had said in a report to the Security Council.

    The conclusions of the former personal envoy of the UN Secretary General, which reinforce the settlement momentum initiated by Morocco, have constituted a repudiation for both Algeria and polisario which continue to defend outdated plans with the aim of maintaining the impasse and holding up any prospect of a final settlement.

    It should come as no surprise that the UN mediator has come in for a vile  disparaging campaign on the part of the propaganda machine in the pay of Algeria and its puppets.

    Notwithstanding all these stalling maneuvers, the international community is determined to put an end to this artificial conflict from a bygone era. For its part, Morocco is resolved not to start over and to engage in serious negotiations on the basis of the autonomy initiative as a final political solution supported by the international community.

    The Sahara issue at the level of the UN is now between two options : negotiations on the basis of political realism advocated by Morocco with the support of the international community, or the maintaining of the status quo and hindrances to the construction of the Maghreb, opted for by Algeria and the Polisario.
Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas