Rabat – Morocco’s ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale, has reiterated the importance of Resolution 2797 of October 2025, describing it as an “unprecedented political verdict” to resolve the dispute over Western Sahara.
Hilale made his remarks on Tuesday in the regular session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C24).
In his remarks, Hilale said that the resolution is not merely a resolution but also a roadmap to help resolve the dispute, recalling that the Security Council’s law addresses the Sahara dispute exclusively under Chapter VI of the UN Charter.
This charter concerns the peaceful settlement of disputes and the maintenance of international peace and security rather than under the framework of decolonization.
Hilale notably recalled Article 12, which establishes the Security Council as the sole authority responsible for the Sahara dispute since 1991.
“This is not an opinion. It is international law. It is the United Nations Charter,” he maintained.
For Hilale, C24 is trapped in its routine of examining the dispute according to “outdated parameters” amid critical phases in the UN-led political process, marked by dialogue and efforts to end the conflict.
He recalled the regional tour which UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura concluded, stressing that C24’s routine is far from the positive momentum generated by UN Security Council Resolution 2797 of October 2025.
The UN Security Council adopted the historic resolution, which recognizes the Autonomy Plan as the most genuine and viable political solution able to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
The resolution received a consensus from the international community, with over 126 countries now viewing the Autonomy Plan as the most or the only serious and credible political solution able to end the dispute.
“That is the very anachronism of the exercise this committee continues to undertake,” Hilale said, stating that the decolonization process was completed with its irreversible return to its motherland in 1975.
Hilale also recalled how the Sahara dispute was fueled and sustained by external actors, freezing the Arab Maghreb and constituting a threat to the stability and security of the entire North African and Sahel region.
Many countries have been expressing concerns over the situation in the Sahel, which continues to form a breeding ground for criminal activities.
Many reports linked Polisario’s involvement in criminal acts in the Sahel as well as expressed concerns over Polisario’s collusion with Iranian-proxy Hezbollah.
Revisiting the historic resolution of October 2025, Hilale stressed how it established the Autonomy Plan as the sole basis for a final settlement, discarding the referendum option, which continues to be promoted by Algeria’s regime, which hosts, finances, arms and supports Polisario’s separatism to challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Hilale addressed Algeria’s persistence in evading its responsibility in the dispute, as the country continues to declare itself as an observer rather than a main party to the dispute.
“The real question is how much longer the other parties will persist in obstruction, evade their responsibilities and delay the political process,” Hilale said.
