Rabat – Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita received on Friday the UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura in Rabat.
The meeting served as a platform to discuss the latest developments in the Western Sahara dossier.
A statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN Omar Hilale also attended the talks.
“On this occasion, the Moroccan delegation recalled the constants of Morocco’s position, as reaffirmed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, in the Royal Speech delivered on the occasion of the 47th Anniversary of the Green march, on November 6, 2022, for a political solution, based exclusively on the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, within the framework of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement continued.
De Mistura’s arrival in Morocco is part of his regional tour, where he has been carrying out consultations and discussions with all parties to the Western Sahara dispute.
During the tour, de Mistura also visited Algeria, and Morocco’s southern provinces in Dakhla and Laayoune, in addition to Rabat.
The Moroccan ministry stressed that the envoy held several talks with elected officials, chioukhs, and locals during his visits to Morocco’s southern provinces.
“All these interlocutors edified the Personal Envoy on the economic and social growth and the political and democratic dynamics experienced by the two regions of the Moroccan Sahara,” the foreign ministry said.
During the visit, de Mistura also visited several socio-economic investment and infrastructure projects, observing the “progress made in the implementation of the New Development Model for the southern provinces.”
King Mohammed VI launched the development program in 2015 as part of Morocco’s efforts to boost the economy and infrastructure of the region for the benefit of its locals.
The regional tour came just weeks before the UN Secretary General’s anticipated annual report on the situation in Western Sahara.
In the report, the UN Secretary-General briefs the international community and UN Security Council on all latest developments in the Sahara dispute.
The report is followed by a UN Security Council vote on a new resolution, which also renews the mandate of MINURSO– the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara.
