United Nations (New York), Oct 5, 2011 (SPS) - Many countries, participating in the UN Fourth Committee session, have reiterated solid support to the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and to the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross.
Speaking to the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, The Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN, Mr. Octavio Errázuriz, reaffirmed the support of Rio Group to the resolutions approved by the UN General Assembly and Security Council on the question of Western Sahara.
He added that the Rio Group supports the efforts of the UN secretary general and its special envoy in order to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution providing for the self-determination of the Saharawi people.
From his part, Mr. Danilo Rosales Díaz, deputy-permanent representative of Nicaragua to the UN, reiterated commitment and solidarity with the liberation struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination and independence.
He went on saying “we hope that the negotiations process between the Polisario Front and Morocco would resume without preconditions in accordance with the UN Charter and resolution 1541.”
The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Ambassador Motlatsi Ramafole, considered that Western Sahara cause “is undoubtedly among the most clear cases in the agenda of the UN,” expressing support to the efforts of the UN envoy, Mr. Christopher Ross, to settle the conflict in Western Sahara.
He therefore called on both parties to the conflict to immediately enter into formal negotiations to find a settlement for the Saharawi cause.
Several delegations have expressed their regret for the fact that the world, after 50 years of the adoption of “the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” by the UN General Assembly, still counts 16 colonial territories today, including Western Sahara.
It should be noted that the Saharawi cause is topped the agenda of the UN Decolonization Committee session.
A Saharawi delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, and comprised of Polisario Representative to the UN, Mr. Boujari Ahmed, and Minister Delegate in charge of Africa, Mr. Mohamed Yeslem Beisat, is attending the deliberations of the UN Fourth Committee.
According to the agenda of the 66th session of the General Assembly, these deliberations will be concluded by the ratification on a draft resolution on Western Sahara to be submitted next December to the UN General Assembly.
The UN Special Committee on decolonization or Committee of 24 was established in 1961 by the General Assembly with the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Resolution 1514 (XV). It also examines the political, social and economic situation in these non-autonomous Territories. (SPS)
090/089