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Marrakech – In a sharp diplomatic exchange at the United Nations’ 80th General Assembly session, Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Omar Hilale, delivered a calculated yet forceful rebuttal to statements made by Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf regarding the Western Sahara dispute.
Hilale addressed what he described as “inexactitudes” in Attaf’s remarks, declaring his intention to “provide clarifications and restore truths” without “polemics or animosity” over the long-standing territorial issue.
“History is stubborn,” Hilale asserted, reminding delegates that Morocco itself placed the Sahara question on the UN agenda 62 years ago as a decolonization matter. “This registration did not happen by itself, but thanks to Morocco’s claims since 1956,” he stressed, exposing a critical historical fact Attaf had conveniently omitted.
The Moroccan diplomat further criticized Attaf for ignoring the UN General Assembly resolution acknowledging the Madrid Accords. “In this hall, fifty years ago, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 3458B, noting the Madrid Accords. These ended Spanish colonization of our Southern Provinces,” Hilale stated firmly.
Challenging Algeria’s attempt to frame the issue as purely one of “decolonization,” Hilale confronted the Algerian official by pointing out that the Security Council – where Algeria currently sits as a member – examines the Sahara as “a question of peace and security, within the framework of peaceful settlement of disputes.”
He dismissed Algeria’s fixation on the MINURSO mission, established 34 years ago, explaining that “the history of the Sahara neither begins nor ends with this UN mission. For 21 years, the Security Council has adopted other resolutions calling for a political solution.”
He hammered home that “since 2007, the Security Council has adopted a resolution each year that enshrines the preeminence of the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, which it considers serious and credible.”
Countering Attaf’s allegations about “imposed realities” on the ground, Hilale showcased the tangible transformation of Morocco’s southern provinces, asserting their fundamental and irreversible right to development.
“The realities of the Moroccan Sahara today are billions in investments, peace, and stability. It is Africa’s longest bridge, a north-south highway, universities, university hospitals, and Africa’s largest deep-water port on the Atlantic,” he declared.
The diplomat added that the region benefits from “active participation of the Moroccan Sahara population in all political, cultural, and economic events,” pointing to the 30 Consulates General now open in Laayoune and Dakhla as “concrete recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the region.”
Hilale also underlined international economic support, noting: “The United States recently instructed its agencies and companies to invest in the Moroccan Sahara.”
Algeria’s duplicity fuels separatism and regional tensions
Exposing Algeria’s contradictory stance, Hilale argued: “Algeria claims not to be a stakeholder, yet it imposes conditions and defines fundamentals for resolving this dispute. Under what authority does it set these conditions, if not as a stakeholder?”
While welcoming what he termed Algeria’s implicit recognition of its role, Hilale urged Algiers to engage constructively in the UN process. “We hope this declaration will extend into the Security Council, through Algeria’s participation in roundtables to resolve this regional dispute that has gone on for too long,” he said.
He further trumpeted international backing for Morocco’s position: “More than 120 countries, including three permanent Security Council members and over two-thirds of European Union members, support this Initiative as the sole solution to this dispute, while dozens of others recognize the Moroccanness of the Sahara.”
Concluding his intervention, Hilale cited King Mohammed VI’s Throne Day speech of July 29, in which the monarch extended a hand to Algeria: “These positions favorable to rightfulness and legitimacy inspire us with honor and pride. They push us further to seek a consensual solution that saves face for all parties, where there will be neither winner nor loser.”
Algeria has yet to officially respond to this royal overture, as it continues under its military regime to arm, finance, and host the separatist Polisario in the Tindouf camps.
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