Moroccan FM: Nasser Bourita
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has defined his country’s views on Security Council resolutions which was issued on Tuesday on “shaping the solution” in the Western Sahara dispute, which Rabat considers part of its national territory.
The Council decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sahara (MINURSO) for six months, beginning on Wednesday and ending on 31 October.
Bourita stated that the Security Council had identified the parties of the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Where it was referred for the first time since 1975 to Algeria 5 times in this resolution. ”
The Moroccan foreign minister added that the Security Council has recognized that Algeria’s strong, continuous and constructive engagement Is necessary to put an end to this protracted regional conflict.
He continued his speech, saying: The Kingdom hopes that the resolution will give a strong impetus to the political solution, and that each party, based on the established standards base, will assume its full responsibility for progress towards consensus-based realism. ”
Minister Bourita said that the Security Council categorically rejected the adherence of the other parties to the referendum and independence, which the Council considered unrealistic, non-pragmatic and unacceptable to the parties, and not based on consensus.
The dispute over the Sahara began in 1975 after the end of the Spanish occupation and its presence in the region, and then turned into an armed confrontation between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which stopped in 1991 with the signing of a ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the United Nations.
Rabat insists on its entitlement in the Sahara region and proposes autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front calls for a referendum for self-determination, A proposal supported by Algeria, which hosts tens of thousands of desert refugees.
Source: Anatolia Agency