.jpeg&w=400) The autonomy plan proposed by Morocco is a "serious and credible" basis to resume dialogue with a view to settling the Moroccan Sahara issue, said on Wednesday France's permanent representative to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivière.
France considers that the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is a serious and credible basis for talks with the aim of resuming dialogue," the French diplomat told the UN Security Council following the adoption of resolution No 2494 which extends MINURSO's mandate by one year.
Rivière, who welcomed the adoption of the new resolution, commended the return to a one‑year mandate for MINURSO, saying it should be standard for peacekeeping.
He also recalled his country's "full support" for the efforts of the UN Secretary General to achieve "a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution" to the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council.
The French diplomat also commended the work done by the former Personal Envoy of the UN chief for the Sahara, Horst Köhler.
"His personal involvement and his ongoing efforts have spurred a new momentum into the political process," he said, in reference to the two round tables held in Geneva that brought together Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario for the first time since 2012.
The French diplomat underlined the importance of appointing a new Personal Envoy "to keep this momentum", noting that the new resolution "calls for resuming the political process on the basis of progress made".
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