Morocco disputes this territory with the Saharawi independentists supported by Algeria. The two neighboring countries of the Maghreb have no more diplomatic relations since August.
Le Monde with AFP
The continuous arms pass between Morocco and Algeria that broke their diplomatic relations, and opposed Western Sahara. Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, said on Saturday, November 6, that this territory disputed between his country and the Saharawi Independentists supported by Algeria, “is not to negotiate”.
“Today as in the past, the” Moroccanity “of the Sahara will never be on the agenda of any towation,” said the Moroccan monarch, in a speech broadcast by national television. “In fact, the” Moroccanity “of Sahara is such a sustainable truth. It does not suffer, therefore, no dispute,” he said.
“If we are committed to negotiations, it is essentially to reach a peaceful settlement of this artificial regional conflict,” continued Mohammed VI in this speech on the occasion of the 46 e anniversary of the “green walking” to the Western Sahara.
In November 1975, at the call of King Hassan II, 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border of Western Sahara, then Spanish colony, on behalf of “belonging” of the territory in the Kingdom.
Diplomatic rupture
The United Nations Security Council (UN) has called a week ago the parties to the conflict to resume negotiations “without prerequisites and good faith”.
These dials are to be taken, under the auspices of the new UN emissor, the Italo-Swedish Staffan of Mistura, “with a view to achieving a fair, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution” in the perspective of A “self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, says the United Nations, in a resolution that extends the UN mission of one year (MINURSO) in the region.
The speech of the Moroccan ruler, very expected, intervened at the moment when the relations between the two enemy brothers of the Maghreb are at the lowest. Last August, after months of friction, Algiers broke his diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing him “hostile actions”. Rabat regretted a decision “completely unjustified”.
The tension is still mounted by a notch in recent days after Algeria reported a bombardment that caused the death of three Algerian truckers in Western Sahara, territory contested between Morocco and the Saharawi Independentists of the Front Polisario, which Alger awarded Rabat.
American Recognition
In his speech, the king welcomed the decision of the former President Donald Trump, in December 2020, to recognize the sovereignty of Rabat on Western Sahara, in return for a standardization of the relations of Morocco With Israel.
“It is the natural corollary of the constant support of the previous American administrations and the illustration of their constructive contribution to the process of resolution of the Sahara question,” he rejoiced.
Finally, Mohammed VI praised the intervention of the royal armed forces (FAR) who “restored the free movement of people and goods at the point of passage of Guerguerat” connecting Morocco and Mauritania.
On November 13, 2020, a ceasefire concluded in 1991 between Morocco and the Polisario Front under the auspices of the United Nations shattered after the deployment of Moroccan troops to the far south of Western Sahara for Disclose independentists who blocked the only road to Mauritania, according to them illegal. Polisario has since decreed the state of war.
“This firm peaceful action has put an end to the provocations and aggression that Morocco had already reported to the international community the gravity for security and for the stability of the region,” justified the monarch.
The Western Sahara, located on the Atlantic coast and bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria, is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN in the absence of a definitive settlement. With its rich mining basement and its fish ribs, it is the only territory of the African continent whose post-colonial status remains outstanding. Morocco in control of 80% and proposes a large autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario claims a referendum of self-determination.