Morocco regrets resignation of James Baker, recalls laudable, sincere efforts

The kingdom of Morocco learned "with regret" the resignation of James Baker as the United Nations' special envoy for the Sahara, recalling "his laudable and sincere efforts" to settle the issue over the Moroccan Sahara.

Baker's resignation was issued in New York Friday by the UN spokesman.

The Moroccan department of foreign affairs and cooperation recalled in a release Saturday how the foreign US secretary of state made every effort, especially since 2000, to work out a political settlement negotiated by all the parties, after the international community stressed inapplicability of the 1991 settlement plan.

"All along this process, the Kingdom of Morocco has cooperated with James Baker, with sincerity and commitment, for a genuine, viable and definitive political solution to this fundamental issue, which is sacred for the Moroccan people, united behind king Mohammed VI," the release goes.

"Morocco will, as it has in the past, work, good-intentioned, with the UN and the other parties to find a compromise that respects the kingdom's sovereignty and territorial integrity, approved by all and serving the supreme interests of the Maghreb region.

Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, had on Thursday pledged Morocco's readiness to cooperate with Baker to find a political settlement to the dispute opposing Morocco to the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario."

"(É) We accept his (Baker's) plan, but with red lines," Benaissa insisted in an interview with Spanish daily "ABC," insisting that "there are things that are not suitable for Morocco and that do not fit in its Constitution and system."

The Polisario front is claiming secession of Morocco's southern provinces, known as the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved in 1975 under the Madrid tripartite accords, signed with Mauritania and the former colonial power.