"During this meeting, the UN Secretary General paid tribute to HM King Mohammed VI for his leadership and his broad vision for peace, particularly in the Mediterranean region," the Moroccan FM told the press following the meeting.

    Ban also highlighted "the role played by HM the King and his commitment, at the regional and international level and within the United Nations, to issues relating to the Middle East, the climate change, cooperation, and development in Africa," the Minister added.

    "We tackled the Sahara issue within the UN," he said, adding that "thanks to the Moroccan Sahara initiative, we managed to initiate a new round of negotiations.”

   He also noted that “since the appointment of the new Personal Envoy of the Secretary General for the Sahara, Christopher Ross, talks took place in Austria and a visit of the UN official is expected in the region in order to continue the efforts to implement the Security Council’s resolutions.”

    In this regard, the Minister underlined that “the Security Council’s resolutions are clear, stress the originality of the Moroccan initiative, and call on the parties to engage in these negotiations with a spirit of compromise and realism.”

    “Morocco is ready and is waiting for new meetings and new negotiations,” he said, adding that the Kingdom “continues its efforts of development in its territory” for a political solution to this artificial regional disagreement.

    Fassi Fihri wrapped up, on the same day, his visit to New York after a week of intense diplomatic activity which included several meetings on the sidelines of the 64th UNGA meetings.