Rabat – Saturday marks the 65th anniversary of the 1958 visit by late King Mohammed V to M’hamid El Ghizlane, a town in southern Morocco.
The event saw the late monarch meet with sheikhs and representatives of Sahrawi tribes who declared their allegiance to Morocco and to the monarch.
The King gave a speech in the valley of the Draa river for the occasion, where he confirmed that he would do anything within his powers to unify families and regain control of the Western Sahara region.
The speech came only a few years after Mohammed V’s return from exile in 1955 and two years after Morocco gained independence in 1956, and served to reinforce Morocco’s efforts to regain sovereignty over the Western Sahara at the time.
“We solemnly proclaim that we will continue our efforts to reclaim our Sahara, in accordance with our historical rights and the wishes of the inhabitants,” said the late king in his speech.
That same year, Morocco and Spain would sign the Treaty of Angra de Cintra, allowing Morocco to recover some of its southern territories such as Tarfaya and Tan-Tan.
The visit and speech have been celebrated ever since, with the late King Hassan II, who was Mohammed V’s son, echoing his father’s sentiments in a 1981 speech.
“We remember our father’s visit with pride because it is from here that he called for the return of the Moroccan territories to achieve national unity and we remember the visit, because it was a call that had a great echo and was a lesson in politics and patience from which we now reap the benefits,” he said.
As the separatist threat from the Polisario persists, Morocco continues to campaign for its sovereignty over the Western Sahara region.
