Three more countries withdraw recognition of sahrawi republic
Morocco, Politics, 9/15/2000

Three countries of the Pacific Forum, namely Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu, withdrew recognition of the so-called Sahrawi Republic "SADR."

The three countries announced their decision on the sidelines of the ongoing 55th session of the UN general assembly and on the morrow of the millenium summit held September 6-8 at the UN headquarters in New York.

The decision by the three Pacific forum countries adds up to the wave of similar decisions by scores of countries from all over the world that withdrew recognition of the whimsical republic after they realized the situation prevailing in the Saharan provinces.

Over the last few months, several Latin-American countries have rescinded recognition of the whimsical republic, the last ones being Peru, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, San Domingo, Santa-Lucia, Costa-Rica, Nicaragua, and Paraguay. In Asia, the regional superpower and Non-Aligned Movement locomotive, India, followed suit, end of last June.

Commenting the spate of recognition withdrawals, Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, who is currently taking part in the UN general assembly session, told MAP Morocco is more determined than ever to defend by all legitimate means its inalienable rights to perfect its territorial integrity.

He recalled that Morocco has repeatedly called the countries, which had been misled by the SADR-orchestrated propaganda, to take into account legality and back the laudable efforts made by the UN secretary general and his personal envoy for the Sahara issue. These efforts are meant to put an end to this artificial conflict through a process, calling for abstaining from pre-judging the process developments and results.

In his address before the 55th session of the UN general assembly Wednesday, Benaissa renewed Morocco's backing to all moves by the UN Secretary General and his personal envoy to definitively settle the Sahara issue and said Morocco will continue to cooperate with the Secretary General who is making efforts to overcome the difficulties hampering the implementation of the UN settlement plan on the Sahara.

The United Nations is trying to hold a referendum in the Sahara --a Moroccan southern territory that was formerly under Spanish rule and that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords.

The vote, which will give the people of the Sahara a choice between independence or integration with Morocco, has been repeatedly delayed because of the maneuvers of the separatist polisario which seeks to shrink the electorate.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco renews backing to UN secretary general's moves to settle sahara issue   (9/14/2000)
  Morocco convinced referendum shall confirm sahara as Moroccan territory   (9/13/2000)
  Morocco Prepares for Moroccan-Japanese Economic Encounter   (9/8/2000)

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