Morocco says Sahara file on C24 agenda is anachronistic

Morocco’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, said at the regional seminar of the UN Committee of 24 (C24), held from May 25 to 27 in Managua, Nicaragua, that keeping the Sahara issue on the committee’s agenda is anachronistic.

In this regard, he stressed that its continued inclusion on the C24 agenda is «already a violation of Article 12 of the United Nations Charter, which establishes the primacy of the Security Council over the subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly», noting that this is «even more the case today, given the unprecedented diplomatic momentum surrounding the Sahara file since the adoption of Resolution 2797».

The ambassador went on to underline that, through its resolution, the Security Council had «set out the path forward under the facilitation of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, with the valuable assistance of the United States». «It has enshrined the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the only serious and credible basis for reaching a definitive settlement», he added, pointing to «the responsibility of the four parties» in this political process: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario.

In the same vein, Hilale said that «Morocco, for its part, has matched its words with action: in the wake of Resolution 2797, it detailed its autonomy plan, thereby paving the way for a promising atmosphere in the rounds of talks held in Washington and Madrid».

He also stated that «this new momentum is the result of an international consensus that has steadily and solidly taken shape around the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative since it was presented in 2007».

The ambassador noted that «the other parties now face a historic choice: seize this opportunity to turn the page on a dispute that has lasted half a century, end the suffering of exile and the living conditions endured by the populations in the Tindouf camps, or else favor the status quo, with all its security risks».