King says Morocco ready to cooperate with neighbouring states to solve Sahara dispute
Visiting King Mohammed VI of Morocco expressed, in Lima Tuesday, Morocco's readiness to cooperate with parties concerned and with the neighbouring states in order to find a solution to the three-decade long Sahara dispute.
"I would like to stress that my country is prepared to cooperate with the United Nations Organization, with all the parties concerned and with the neighbouring states to reach a final, negotiated political solution to this conflict," said the king in a speech delivered following the signing ceremony of three cooperation accords between the two countries.
Such a solution, stressed the King, should "guarantee the legitimate right of the Kingdom of Morocco to preserve its full sovereignty, and enable the inhabitants of the provinces concerned to manage their regional affairs themselves, in a democratic way, within the framework of my country's national unity and territorial integrity, and with the building of the Maghreb Union in mind."
The project of the Maghreb Arab Union (UMA) -- a North African regional grouping mustering Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia -- has been hampered since its launch in 1989 because of divergences between its member states, in particular between the two main populated countries Morocco and Algeria. Both countries are at loggerheads because of the latter's political, financial, military and logistic support to the Polisario separatists who lay claim to Morocco's southern provinces. The former Spanish colony was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.
"Morocco is keen to continue acting in accordance with international legality, and to see that dialogue and negotiation are used for the equitable and peaceful settlement of disputes which threaten global peace and security, not only in its own region, but throughout the world," the King said.
Peru was the first Latin American country to withdraw in October 1996 its recognition of the puppet "Sahrawi" republic, self-proclaimed by the Polisario secessionists.
In addition to the Sahara dispute, the Moroccan monarch also evoked in his speech the situation in the Middle East, expressing concern about the deteriorating situation in the region.
"We are concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. We hope the latest developments will provide an opportunity to revive the Road Map in order to find a solution to the Palestinian problem, to the Arab-Israeli conflict and to the suffering of the Iraqi people in accordance with the resolutions of international legality," he said.
