Rabat - The United Nations Secretary General has once again failed to obtain the support of the Security Council in his feud with the Moroccan government over his controversial statements regarding Rabat’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, in southern Morocco.
Rabat – The United Nations Secretary General has once again failed to obtain the support of the Security Council in his feud with the Moroccan government over his controversial statements regarding Rabat’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, in southern Morocco.
The Security Council has sent a clear message to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that it still calls for a political and mutually acceptable solution to the territorial dispute pitting Morocco to the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
During the monthly luncheon it held on Monday with the UN Chief, the 15-member body issued no press statement on the dispute between Ban Ki-moon and Morocco. To the UN chief’s dismay, the Security Council did not either condemn Morocco’s decision to evacuate 84 members of the United Nations mission in the territory, known as MINURSO.
This is the second setback Ban Ki-moon has suffered in less than a week. Last Thursday, the Security Council held an exceptional meeting to discuss the latest developments regarding the tension that had arisen earlier this March when the UN chief described Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara as “occupation.”
Following the meeting, the most important UN body refrained from lending support to the UNSG or issuing a strongly-worded statement against Morocco. Instead, it was decided that its members would meet at the bilateral level with Moroccan diplomats in order to restore the situation to normal.
During a press briefing in the media stakeout, Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins of Angola, council president this month, told reporters that the 15-member council voiced its concern, but agreed that every member state should approach Morocco to diffuse tension and “ensure everything is evolving in a positive manner.”
The outcome of the meeting has disappointed Ban Ki-moon whose spokesperson told reporters that “It would have been better had we received clearer words from the president of the Security Council.”
On Monday, more than a thousand of Moroccans living in the United States staged a sit-in in front of the UN headquarters in New York to express their rejection of Ban Ki-moon’s unprecedented statements and his bias in favor of the Algeria-backed Polisario.
