Rabat - Moroccan Government Spokesman Mustapha El Khalfi expressed his satisfaction on Thursday over the briefing presented by the United Nations Personal Envoy Horst Kohler to the Security Council on Wednesday.
Rabat – Moroccan Government Spokesman Mustapha El Khalfi expressed his satisfaction on Thursday over the briefing presented by the United Nations Personal Envoy Horst Kohler to the Security Council on Wednesday.
After the Security Council meeting, President of the Security Council Karel van Oosterom made a statement about the briefing, emphasizing that members of the council have all expressed concern over the situation of the buffer zone of Guerguerat in Western Sahara. The council, according to the president, stressed the need of “maintaining the status quo, as mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General,” issued in April 2017.
Oosterom also emphasized that “there should be no change in the status of the buffer zone,” a warning that has been repeatedly violated by the Polisario Front in recent months.
After the weekly cabinet meeting held in Rabat on Thursday, El Khalfi commented on the statement made by Oosterom, saying that it has “refuted many allegations of enemies of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.”
El Khalfi added that this statement reaffirmed the position of the United Nations on the situation in Guerguerat and the “need to maintain the status quo.”
The Moroccan official told the press that the UN Security Council will keep the Sahara Question under the United Nations auspices exclusively, explaining that Morocco will never accept any parallel discussions “likely to deflect the process of these constants.”
In a meeting with a Moroccan delegation, led by Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita in Lisbon, Kohler reaffirmed that it is up to the United Nations to contribute to finding a solution to end the 40 years conflict. Kohler’s statement echoed his written briefing presented to the security council members.
The Security Council expressed “full support” for Kohler’s efforts, welcoming his recent bilateral meetings with the parties to the conflict, which aim to relaunch the negotiation process with a new dynamic.
