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7th round of negotiations on Sahara kicks off in Manhasset
6/6/2011

The 7th round of informal talks on the Sahara, which will last three days, until June 7, kicked off Sunday with the presence of the parties’ representatives.

The Moroccan delegation arrived Sunday afternoon in Manhasset in the suburbs of New York to take part in this round held at the invitation of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Christopher Ross.

The delegation includes Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Taib Fassi Fihri, the Director General of Studies and Documentation (DGED), Mohamed Yassine Mansouri and the Secretary General of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) , Maouelainin Benkhalihanna Maouelainin.

This new round of informal talks will bring together, in addition to Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario.

During the sixth round of talks in Malta, the delegation "responded positively to the approach sought by Mr. Ross to explore new fields and discuss additional issues."

The delegation approved in this context the consideration of a number of issues including the status of natural resources in the provinces of Sakia El Hamra and Oued Ed-Dahab and the mission of Mr. Ross.

Concerning natural resources, the delegation expressed its willingness to discuss in order to put an end to "allegations" and "unfounded escalation" about the alleged exploitation by Morocco of these resources.

"We also agreed to entrust Mr. Ross with a margin of possibility of acting otherwise," stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

On the other hand, Mr. Fassi Fihri had added that Morocco's autonomy initiative for the Sahara had again been developed by the Delegation of Morocco during the Malta meeting, to emphasize the "virtues" as "realistic and agreed" solution that will allow the "inhabitants of this dear land to meet again after decades of separation."

Morocco will use the current round of talks to continue argumentation to persuade the UN of the importance and credibility of the Moroccan Initiative which is part of the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1920, added the minister.

The talks which started in August 2009 in Austria, should prepare the 5th round of formal negotiations aimed at finding a final political solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.

- News concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas