Bir Lehlou (Sahrawi Republic), 5 April 2024-SPS-The Sahrawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Communiqué today expressing strong condemnation of the statement issued following the meeting of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Mr Staffan de Mistura, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the occupying state of Morocco yesterday.
The Communiqué contained the call by the Frente POLISARIO on the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibility in confronting the aggression and escalation pursued by the occupying state of Morocco, especially following its breach and torpedoing of the ceasefire agreement on 13 November 2020, which further fuel tensions and imperil peace, security, and stability in the entire region.
In concluding, the Communiqué reaffirmed the strong and unwavering determination of the Sahrawi people to continue their national struggle by all legitimate means, including armed struggle, until they attain their non-negotiable freedom and independence, and the establishment of sovereignty over the entire Sahrawi Republic (SADR).
The text of the Communiqué as received by SPS:
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Communiqué
The statement issued following the meeting of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Mr Staffan de Mistura, with the Foreign Minister of the occupying state of Morocco yesterday is nothing but a rehashing of the same positions of intransigence and arrogance, which demonstrate once again that the occupying state does not have any political will to move towards a just and lasting solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara.
The Frente POLISARIO strongly condemns the rejectionist rhetoric and intransigence contained in that statement and calls on the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibility in confronting the aggression and escalation pursued by the occupying state of Morocco, especially following its breach and torpedoing of the ceasefire agreement on 13 November 2020, which further fuel tensions and imperil peace, security, and stability in the entire region.
The occupying state of Morocco, which had previously criticised Mr Staffan de Mistura, is trying to use his visit to hoodwink its domestic public opinion by appearing to set “conditions”, which are in fact only pretexts for its unwillingness to engage seriously in the peace process and for continuing its obstruction of the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara.
Moreover, the “conditions” contained in the statement show that the occupying state of Morocco continues to make a mockery of Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2703 (2023), which have consistently called on both parties to resume negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General without preconditions and in good faith.
The Frente POLISARIO reaffirms that the UN-OAU Settlement Plan, which was accepted by both parties to the conflict, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, in August 1988 and unanimously adopted by the Security Council in its resolutions 658 (1990) and 690 (1991), remains the realistic, reasonable, and mutually acceptable solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara.
The UN Security Council is therefore called upon to take concrete steps to empower the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to fully implement its mandate as set out in the UN-OAU Settlement Plan.
The Frente POLISARIO also reiterates its readiness to continue working with the United Nations and the African Union with a view to achieving a peaceful, just, and lasting solution to the conflict between the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) and the Kingdom of Morocco in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the objectives and principles of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
In concluding, the Frente POLISARIO reaffirms the strong and unwavering determination of the Sahrawi people to continue their national struggle by all legitimate means, including armed struggle, until they attain their non-negotiable freedom and independence, and the establishment of sovereignty over the entire Sahrawi Republic (SADR).
Bir Lehlou, 5 April 2024