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Most importantly, Morocco has to ensure that the report mention the case of Mustapha Salma Oueld Sidi Mouloud and the inhuman way in which he was treated after he made a pronouncement favorable to the Moroccan approach on this issue. It should also make sure that the report take note of the dissenting voices that are questioning the legitimacy of the Polisario leadership in the Tindouf camps, represented by Khat a-Chahid. Last but not least, they should also ensure that the report highlight the news reports that suggest the existence of links between high-ranking Polisario leaders and the terrorist movement “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb”.
Morocco has to voice its concern that the current situation cannot be sustainable, and that it cannot continue to take part in informal negotiations that are leading nowhere. Morocco has to take advantage of the current situation in the Maghreb and of the positive echo of the comprehensive constitutional reform announced by Mohamed VI, and convince the Permanent Members of the Security Council that the Autonomy Plan not only meets international standards on people’s self-determination and self-rule, but also contributes to safeguarding the stability in the Maghreb. In this regard, Morocco has also to play the card of the threat that terrorism (AQMI) poses to the region and to demonstrate to its allies that the establishment of a micro State in the Maghreb is not a viable solution, and that the emergence of a failed State in this region would be only a source of instability and a platform for terrorist activities.
It is worth recalling that, over the last decade, many observers have stated that an independent Saharawi State cannot be envisaged as a “realistic option”. This was the message conveyed by the spokesman of the American Department of State on April 30th 2008 before the UN Security Council, on the occasion of the vote of resolution S/RES/1813. Similarly, in an interview given to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara, Peter Walsum, stated that the establishment of a Sahrawi State is not an “accessible objective”. Back in 2000, in his report to the Security Council on the Situation in the Sahara (S/2000/461) Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, stated that it is essential that the parties be “prepared to consider other ways of achieving an early, durable and agreed resolution over their dispute over the Sahara.
On that basis, Moroccan diplomacy has to exert its efforts in order to convince the Security Council to adopt a resolution that clearly calls on the Polisario Front to engage seriously and in a constructive way in direct negotiations with a view to reaching a consensual-based solution to the conflict that it builds on the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco in 2007.
In the same vein, Morocco needs also to strengthen its image around the world as a country that can be trusted and a country that delivers on its international commitments. The best way to achieve this goal is to target those countries whose public opinion is not favorable to the Moroccan approach on the Sahara, especially Spain, as well as many other Spanish-speaking countries known for their support to the Polisario Front. In this regard, I call on Moroccan Ambassadors in these countries to take advantage of the current situation and start an aggressive public relations campaign aimed at garnering more international public opinion support to the Moroccan approach on the Sahara. Moroccan diplomats have to make use of all the media outlets they have at their disposal, as well as of the internet, to sell the Moroccan Autonomy Plan on Sahara and the Moroccan democratic model to the public opinion of the countries where they are appointed.
Such a public relations campaign is likely to enhance the international standing of Morocco as a democratic country and a guarantor of stability in the Maghreb and North Africa. In no time over the last 36 years has Morocco’s stance on the Sahara issue been stronger than now and the situation been riper for Morocco to thwart the attempts of its adversaries who are bent on preventing it from putting an end to the Sahara conflict and preserving its territorial integrity.
The ball now is in Morocco’s court and it has to make good use of this situation to its advantage.
