Spain Tacitly Supports Morocco’s decision To Withdraw Confidence in Christopher Ross

By Morocco World News

RABAT, June 20, 2012

Spain expressed its tacit support to the position adopted by Morocco regarding the withdrawal of its confidence in UN’s special envoy to Sahara, saying that the latter should focus more on central issues surrounding the issue, instead of focusing on the secondary aspects of the dispute.

The statement came during the visit of Spanish Foreign Minister to Morocco on Wednesday, where he met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Eddine Otmani. “UN’s special envoy to Sahara should engage with the “central issues” surrounding the disputed territory”, Spain’s chief diplomat was quoted by AFP as saying.

“It would be better for the special envoy dealing with the (Sahara) to engage with the central, and not fringe, issues,” Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said at a joint press conference with Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine Othmani.

Spain would continue to examine solutions to the conflict, Garcia-Margallo assured on Wednesday. “We want a stable, peaceful and lasting solution to this conflict, within the framework of UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.

Morocco withdrew its confidence in Christopher Ross, after the issuance of the UNSG annual report on the Sahara, where it accuses Morocco of having spied on the MINURSO.

The UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara Christopher Ross, “no longer meets the necessary conditions that enable him to ensure the success of negotiations on the Sahara,” said the Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Mustpaha El Khalfi, at a press briefing last May. The Minister also deplored that the current negotiation process was led “astray”.

Morocco’s decision to withdraw confidence from Ross was dictated by the duty to defend and safeguard its national sovereignty over its territories, he added.

This decision, El Khalfi went on to say, is “a clear invitation to the UN to ensure the implementation of the Security Council resolutions which call for genuine talks to find a political, lasting and mutually acceptable solution.”