Sahara issue: King reiterates Morocco's readiness to cooperate for political solution guaranteeing territorial integrity

Morocco's King Mohammed VI reiterated Tuesday Morocco's readiness to "cooperate with the United Nations and all the parties concerned" to achieve "a final, negotiated political solution" to the Sahara issue, "which guarantees the sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity of Morocco."

"I should like to reiterate my country's readiness to cooperate in a sincere and determined way with the United Nations and all the parties concerned, in order to achieve, within the framework of international legality, a final, negotiated political solution, which guarantees the sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco," he said in a speech before the 59th session of the United Nations' General Assembly.

The King went on that such a solution would enable the inhabitants of its southern provinces "to manage their regional affairs by themselves, in a democratic, stable environment conducive to integrated development and would spare the area the risk of becoming a hotbed of tension."

"It would also foster Maghreb integration and enable the region to fully play its role in the Mediterranean and in its relations with African countries of the Sahel, thereby sparing the whole of North-West Africa the risks of balkanization and the threats of international terrorism," he said.