Morocco to fully cooperate with UN officials and international community to reach political solution to Sahara dispute, King Mohammed VI
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 11/8/2004

King Mohammed VI reaffirmed Saturday that Morocco will continue to cooperate fully and in good faith with the United Nations, its Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and with his Special Representative Alvaro de Soto, aided by effective support from partners in the region and from the international community, "to reach a final, negotiated political solution to the artificial dispute over Morocco's territorial integrity, one that is mutually acceptable to the parties concerned."

In a speech to the nation on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Green March, the king also reiterated "Morocco's commitment to dialogue and negotiation with a view to reaching the above-mentioned solution, to which I have given top priority in Morocco's development project, as pointed out in the last State of the Nation Address," adding the issue of Morocco's territorial integrity is a question of indivisible national identity; it is also an inalienable historical right.

The king said this vital matter is an integral part of the endeavour to build a united, democratic and prosperous country, guaranteeing to all Moroccans the right to worthy and full citizenship. A country founded on rational, effective regionalization, allowing each region extensive decentralization or self-management of economic, social and cultural development, in the light of each region's specificities and within the framework of the country's sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.

Morocco, confident in its just cause, stressed the sovereign, will spare no effort "to resolve this dispute once and for all, thanks to a clear, strategic approach designed to preserve our country's rights and reflect the new concept of global security and neighbourliness in the vast region of North-West Africa, the Sahel and the South-West Mediterranean."

This future-oriented approach is aimed at meeting the real challenges facing the region, particularly the need to protect it against the risk of becoming a hotbed of tension and terrorism, and of being used by gangs who exploit poverty as well as forced displacement and detentions, in blatant violation of human rights and people's dignity, said King Mohammed VI.

This approach also seeks to make the entire region an open space for the free movement of people and capital, as well as for free trade, co-development and cultural interaction, the king went on to say.

The king called on political parties and elected institutions and councils, as well as the nation's human resources, to do all they can to make the question of our territorial integrity better known and to defend this just cause, as part of an efficient plan designed to supplement the efforts of official diplomacy.

On the achievements made in the Southern provinces since they were retrieved in 1975, King Mohammed VI said "if we were to sum up what we have achieved over the last 29 years of this epic event, we could say, and rightly so: Morocco is in its Sahara, and the Sahara is in Morocco, where it belongs.

The king underscored that Moroccans are celebrating today the glorious Green march day "proud of our achievements in favour of our retrieved Southern provinces, which are enjoying freedom, stability, development and integration to the motherland."

He paid tribute with humility and reverence to "the architect of the Green March, my revered father His Majesty King Hassan II, blessed be his soul, who used to consider this event not only as an inexhaustible mine of facts and lessons, but also a catalyst for building a new Morocco."

Previous Stories:
  Detente environment should prevail in Moroccan-Algerian relations, ministry   (11/4/2004)
  King wishes common future for Maghreb in congratulations message to Algerian President   (11/2/2004)
  Morocco ready for negotiations on 'viable, appropriate autonomy' for Sahara, official   (10/30/2004)

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