Rabat- Following the appointment of a new personal envoy for Western Sahara, Morocco is urging Algeria to participate fully in the round table process in a spirit of realism and compromise as “the real party responsible for the creation and maintenance of the artificial regional dispute around the Moroccan Sahara issue.”
Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, made the comments on Monday during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia.
Responding to remarks by the Algerian Prime Minister at a high-level commemorative ceremony celebrating the Non-Aligned Movement’s 60th anniversary, Hilale said: “The participation of Algeria in the political process as the real party responsible for the creation and maintenance of this regional dispute is the only way to reach the desired political solution.”
According to the Moroccan ambassador, it is imperative that Algeria accept its historical responsibility, abandon buried options, and engage fully in the UN-led political process in a spirit of realism and consensus.
He further pointed out that peace, security, and prevention of conflict remain a cornerstone of the Non-Aligned Movement, and that Morocco “has always worked for a peaceful settlement of the artificial regional dispute around the Moroccan Sahara, under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations and with full respect for its territorial integrity and within the framework of its national sovereignty.”
Hilale also noted that the resolutions of the UN Security Council had been instrumental in advancing the political process of the round table talks, for the sake of reaching a realistic, pragmatic, and lasting solution.
“The autonomy initiative within the framework of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco remains the one and only solution to this dispute,” Hilal said, recalling the growing international support for Morocco’s “serious” and “credible” autonomy proposal.
In addition, Ambassador Hilale alerted the Ministerial Conference of the MNA to “the catastrophic humanitarian situation prevailing in the Tindouf camps, where Algeria abandoned its international responsibilities towards this population in favor of an armed separatist group, in flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.”
He concluded by calling on the international community to compel the Algerian government to allow the High Commissioner for Refugees to conduct a census and registration of the Tindouf camp population, and to put an end to the systematic diversion of humanitarian aid provided to the sequestered Tindouf refugees.
