In a press briefing at the end of her three-day official visit to the North African kingdom, the UN official said Morocco made a positive step to launch dialog about the Sahara issue, stressing the importance of finding a solution to this problem within the framework of the UN.
The dispute over the Sahara, a former Spanish colony Morocco retrieved in 1975 under the Madrid Accord, broke out in 1976 when the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists claimed the independence of the territory. In a bid to solve the dispute for good, Morocco is devising a plan to grant substantial autonomy under its sovereignty. The plan is due to be presented to the UN next month, and Morocco has engaged, for about a month now, an active diplomatic action to explain the proposal to world capitals and drum up support for it.
Al Khalifa asserted that the settlement of the Sahara issue should take into account the political, economic and historical data of the region, underlining that the region needs all its resources to achieve development instead of wasting them through sowing divergences.
The UN senior official hailed the achievements made in Morocco, especially in terms of gender equality, literacy and promoting the right of people with specific needs. “It’s a leading example in the Arab World,” she said.
The visit of the president of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly is part of a tour that would take her to Saudi Arabia where she is due to attend the summit of the Arab League slated for late March.