Morocco deplores Algerian statements on Sahara issue, foreign ministry
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 5/23/2005

Morocco strongly deplores the latest Algerian statements and stances regarding the Sahara issue, a communique of the Moroccan foreign ministry said Sunday.

The communique said Algeria does not merely recall principles and stances, but adopts a systematic bias against the interests of the North African Kingdom by presenting a "truncated reading of international legality and borrowing an argument that strays from the spirit and letter of recent Security Council resolutions" on the Sahara issue.

Since the retrieval of its Southern provinces, known as the Sahara, in 1975 under the Madrid accords, Morocco has faced the opposition of the separatist "Polisario" movement which, backed by Algeria, claims the separation of the Southern provinces from the motherland.

"Algeria asks Morocco to accept and implement the 2003 Baker plan II, though it was overlooked to the extent that the UNO officially called for the need to come out of the current impasse and advance toward a political and lasting solution to be negotiated," the communique said.

The Kingdom of Morocco deeply regrets that such stances be reiterated after the visit of King Mohammed VI to Algeria last March and on the eve of the Summit of members of the Arab Maghreb Union (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania) to convene soon in Libya.

Last March, Algeria and Morocco decided to normalise the situation by the seeking of a lasting solution to the Sahara issue within the UNO, the communique said adding that instead, Algeria is resorting to a specious argument on the issue.

On the eve of the Maghreban summit, which has not been convened for 11 years because of the Algerian-Moroccan dispute, the communiquŽ went on to say, Algeria even wants to give to the "Polisario Front" a status of a "liberation movement" ignoring that the majority of Sahrawis are committed to their Moroccanity. Morocco deplores the stances of Algeria, which are reiterated in a move contradicting bilateral commitments and the will to build Maghreban unity and respect the interests of members countries, the communique said.

Previous Stories:
  Robbery and lynching by 'Polisario' separatists   (5/7/2005)
  Moroccan political leader: self-determination in Sahara issue is obsolete option   (5/6/2005)
  Public hearings points out 'Polisario' human rights violations   (4/28/2005)

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