Manhasset, New York, July 22, 2011
Manhasset, New York, July 22, 2011
Morocco’s Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri said, Thursday night in Manhasset, it is important to “give the chance” to the U.N. innovative approach to settle the Sahara issue.
“Now, it is important to give the chance to the innovative approach (of the United Nations) as in many other disputes or conflicts of this kind where there had been similar initiatives,” said Fassi Fihri, who drew up an assessment of the eight informal sessions on the Sahara issue, at a press briefing at the end of the 8th round of informal talks held at the invitation of the U.N. Secretary General’s Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross.
Morocco “embarks on this parallel approach as it could shed new light and bring about some change in the issue, thanks to the contributions of respected, legitimate representatives of the populations,” he said.
However, Morocco “reserves the right to make the necessary assessment in the wake of future meetings – whether they relate to topics or the specific issue of the population’s representatives,” he said.
He noted that at that time “we’ll see when the next informal (round) could be held and we will take a final decision on the outcome of the whole process including the process begun under the leadership of the former U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Peter Van Walsum.”
Indeed, said the minister, the former Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General Kofi Annan “concluded the four formal sessions of the negotiations by the fact that independence is unachievable and unrealistic,” statement which cost him his job.
He added that the Security Council’s resolutions since 2007 “grow stronger, clearer, and richer, and reinforce the Moroccan position while creating opportunities for a new context of parallel negotiations.”
He hoped that “all these will bear fruit. Meanwhile, Morocco can only strongly condemn this unacceptable status quo created by the other parties.”
It also vehemently denounces the fact that the same parties “refuse for reasons that concern them to advance and change their positions, while Morocco has evolved from its original lines as part of the Moroccan initiative on final status and real autonomy within the Moroccan sovereignty.”
In this context, he regretted that Algeria and the Polisario do not give the impression of having a real desire to find a swift solution, consistent with international law, to this dispute that they themselves created.
Excerpted from MAP
Picture credit: innercitypress.com
