2023-09-15 10:03:10
The UN denies that there is “secrecy” about the efforts to relaunch the diplomatic process in order to resolve the conflict
MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Polisario Front has called on the next Government of Spain, “regardless of who heads it”, to “review its position” towards Western Sahara after Pedro Sánchez announced in 2022 his support for the autonomy initiative defended by Morocco.
The Polisario representative to the United Nations and international organizations in Geneva, Ubi Bachraya Bachir, has stressed that the new Spanish Executive must “listen to the pulse of the Spanish street in solidarity with the Sahrawis and overcome the state of self-exclusion when it comes to play any kind of role in resolving the conflict because of its flagrant bias in favor of the Moroccan occupation force.
“The existing conflict in Western Sahara could be further complicated by Spain’s past mistakes and its insistence on continuing to fuel Moroccan expansionism, the clearest proof being the sudden change in Madrid’s position following Sánchez’s letter to the king of Morocco in March 2022,” he argued.
In this way, he has elaborated on “the seriousness” of this change in position, “given the status of Madrid and its relationship with the conflict as an administrative power in the region, which includes a clear legal violation of the sovereignty of the Sahrawi people and of the territory of Western Sahara”, as reported by the Sahrawi news agency SPS.
Thus, he has also emphasized that Spain’s position represents “an attempt at a miserable political effort to evade the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination by expressing clear support for the Moroccan proposal, aimed at imposing a policy of fait accompli and avoiding to the Sahrawi people and their only legitimate representative, the Polisario Front”.
Thus, he has stressed that Spain’s responsibility as the former colonial power of Western Sahara is not limited to this territory, over which it “abandoned its international obligations”, but towards all of North Africa, since “the conflict in Western Sahara “has diminished the stability and opportunities for prosperity and regional integration of those peoples and countries.”
Finally, Bachraya Bachir has therefore stressed that the Spanish Government’s support for the autonomy plan “does not favor peace and stability in the region, but instead encourages the Moroccan occupying state to deepen its policies of expansion and aggression towards all.” the countries of the region, including Spain”.
SILENCE FROM THE UN AFTER GHALI’S CRITICISM
For its part, the United Nations has denied that there is “secrecy” around the efforts to relaunch the diplomatic process, after the UN did not publish any statement regarding the recent meeting between the leader of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, and the secretary general of the organization, António Guterres.
Ghali revealed after the meeting that he had conveyed to Guterres his discomfort at the organization’s reluctance to “call a spade a spade” and blame Morocco for the breakdown of the ceasefire in Western Sahara, days after the envoy UN special staff, Staffan de Mistura, made a tour of the area that included stops in Laayoune, Dakhla and Rabat.
The UN has not published any statement after the meeting, which has provoked questions from the press to the spokesman for the UN General Secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric, who has highlighted that “there is nothing right now about the meeting” and has referred the you ask de Mistura, who “is always happy to talk to journalists when he feels he can move the process forward.”
“I don’t think it is marked by secrecy. Each matter needs to be handled in the best possible way,” said Dujarric, who highlighted that De Mistura maintains a “very scientific stance regarding how he interacts with the media,” in the face of criticism about the absence of press conferences and appearances by Guterres’ envoy for the conflict.
“I think that, when he feels that he can help advance the process, he will do so,” said Dujarric, who also confirmed that De Mistura is currently in Algiers, where he has held “useful meetings” with the Foreign Minister. Algerian, Ahmed Ataf.
De Mistura’s trip to the region takes place amid the sporadic clashes that have occurred in the area since the Polisario declared the ceasefire broken and began a military deployment in November 2020 to end the blockade they were carrying out. Since October 21, Sahrawi activists have been at the Guerguerat pass, located near the border with Mauritania.
The former Spanish colony was occupied despite the resistance of the Polisario Front, with whom it remained at war until 1991, when both parties signed a ceasefire with a view to holding a self-determination referendum, but differences over the preparation of the census and the inclusion or not of Moroccan settlers has so far prevented its call.
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