 The autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for its southern provinces is the "only viable solution" for a final settlement of the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, said a large group of participants in a seminar held Saturday in Dar es Salaam.
The Moroccan autonomy initiative represents a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution", in accordance with the latest UN Security Council resolutions, noted the participants in this regional seminar, co-organized by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) and the Tanzania Peace Foundation (TPF).
According to a statement released at the end of the seminar on Saturday evening, such a solution requires, according to the speakers, a "strong political will" of the parties, as well as of the international community, stressing that such political will has clearly been demonstrated by Morocco and rejected by Algeria.
These discussions focused on the Sahara issue in light of the challenges faced by the African Union and the presence of a non-state entity among its sovereign and independent members, said the statement. The admission of the so-called "sadr" to the pan-African organization was a "burdensome historical error," the statement added.
Following a brief historical and legal overview of the issue, which demonstrated, by way of history and international law, the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara, the participants unanimously called for a "revigorated Pan-Africanism" that draws its strength from unity, peace and stability; and hence economic integration, growth and development.
The participants insisted on the necessity to put a stop to all forms of separatism (political secessionism, religious extremism, identity disintegration) to achieve absolute pan-African priorities such as the implementation of the African Common Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the 2063 Agenda goals.
Speakers also congratulated Morocco for its continental leadership and the "major diplomatic triumph" that it has achieved in the last 18 months, through the opening of 20 diplomatic representations by African brotherly countries in Laayoune and Dakhla.
The opening of diplomatic representations in the Moroccan Sahara reflects, according to the participants, a "strong support" for the Moroccan Sahara and an effective implementation of a pragmatic, realistic and compromise-based approach.
They also commended Morocco's unwavering commitment to a dynamic of openness, progress, and modernity for the overall win-win development and South-South cooperation for t
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