الـعـربية Español Français English Deutsch Русский Português Italiano
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Foreign Activities

Morocco presented several concrete ideas to accelerate the pace of the UN-backed negotiations on the Sahara and has reaffirmed its willingness to find a political solution to the regional dispute on the basis of the autonomy plan, Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri underlined on Sunday at the end of the fifth round of UN-backed informal talks, held on January 21-23 in Manhasset (New York).



These concrete ideas "are relevant to the ongoing negotiation process and not the political solution," explained Fassi Fihri.

    The UN's experience has shown that "when the parties fail to make progress, they have recourse to innovative approaches" to accelerate and facilitate these negotiations, he added.

    The Moroccan delegation proposed "innovative ideas to work on specific subjects, the factors to accelerate negotiations," Fassi Fihri went on to say.

    The Foreign Minister raised the ideas of diversifying the mission of the UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, enlarging participation in negotiations, notably that of representatives of the southern provinces' population, and examining the actual state  of the natural resources in the region and the way they are positively used for the good of the local population.

    These new ideas and proposals aim at "facilitating and accelerating negotiations," Fassi Fihri made it clear, stressing that they concern “negotiating conditions, the approach and responsibilities of the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara, which should not be limited to rounds of talks but should also make use of other diplomatic means, meetings, visits, and the enlargement of delegations' compositions to include all interested parties, notably experts, with a view to making progress.”

    In this connection, Fassi Fihri said Morocco enlarged the composition of its official delegation by including representatives of the Saharan population so that they can voice their willingness and express their position regarding the Kingdom’s autonomy initiative, which, he recalled, was the fruit of “large consultations with the region’s tribal leaders (Chioukhs) and representatives of local inhabitants”.

    For his part, The UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara Christopher Ross announced, at the end of the fifth talks,  that the parties will meet for another round, saying that they “presented and discussed in a preliminary manner concrete ideas that will be developed at the next round of informal talks to be held in March.”

   
In this respect, Fassi Fihri voiced hope that the next informal meeting will enable the parties to develop an action plan on the negotiations and the issues to be discussed in the future.

    “It is possible that the upcoming round will culminate with the adoption of a schedule of the different issues to discuss in the future,” the Moroccan official told journalists, stressing the pertinence of Morocco's proposals in the next phases to break the deadlock.

    He reiterated Morocco's willingness to find a solution to this regional dispute on the basis of the legitimacy of Morocco's presence in its Sahara and the autonomy proposal as a compromise and realistic solution that enjoys a large endorsement by the UN and the international community.

   
Fassi Fihri noted that while Morocco has shown openness and compromise, the other parties prefer the “status-quo, refuse to make headway and continue to ignore calls by the international community to find a political, negotiated solution.”

    These parties continue to obstinately stick to obsolete settlement plans and the organization of a referendum with proven unfeasibility, he deplored, underlining their historical responsibility towards the Maghreban peoples, who face numerous challenges at a time multiple dangers hang over the region.

    The peoples of the region and the international community are “closely following this situation and know very well the parties that refuse move ahead,” underlined the Minister.


Source: MAP
News and events concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas

 

 This website shall not be responsible for the functioning and content of external links !
  Copyright © CORCAS 2024