Middle East, Moroccan Sahara at focus of King Mohammed - Annan talks
Morocco, Politics, 4/26/2002

The situation in the Middle East and the latest report of the UN Secretary General on the Sahara were at the center of talks held in New York Thursday between King Mohammed VI and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The UNO spokesman said in a release that the sovereign and the UN chief held a private session at Annan's residence before talks were enlarged to the two sides' delegations.

Talks focused on the situation in the Middle East, the latest report of the UN secretary general on the Sahara, and relations between the countries of Western Africa, namely Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, to which the king has greatly contributed, the spokesman said.

In his latest report to the Council last February 27, Annan had presented four options to break the stalemate in the Sahara issue. The first would have the UN resume trying to implement the 1988 settlement plan. The second would have Annan's Personal Envoy, James Baker III, try to revise the draft Framework Agreement. The third option would be to mandate Baker to discuss a possible division of the territory with interested parties, and the fourth would see the Council terminate MINURSO (French acronym for UN mission for the holding of a referendum in the Sahara) due to the lack of progress.

Morocco, with all its components, rejected the third partition option and the sovereign renewed this rejection on Wednesday when he delivered an address at a meeting he held at the Capitol with Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and other House members from both the Democrat and the Republican parties.

As to the sovereign's contribution to improve relations between the countries of Western Africa, it mainly materialized in his initiative to convene a tripartite summit that gathered in Morocco last February the presidents of the three African countries forming the Mano River Union, namely

Charles Taylor of Liberia, Lansana Conte of Guinea, and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra-Leone.

The sovereign's initiative meant to establish a lasting peace in the Mano river region and defuse tension between the three countries was then hailed as a happy initiative by the UN Secretary General, the Security Council and the European Union.

The presidents of the three African countries adopted a set of measures concerning security along their common borders, repatriation of refugees and assistance to displaced persons, and reactivation of the Mano River Union administration. They called upon the international community and the United Nations to support and help implement the decisions adopted during the Summit.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco renews rejection of any partition proposal of its Sahara   (4/25/2002)
  King Mohammed renews Morocco's resolve to promote democracy   (4/25/2002)
  Moroccan red crescent takes part in conference on humanitarian law in Almeria   (4/25/2002)

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