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AU can play "decisive role" in resolving conflict, says former diplomat

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Rome, Nov 16, 2013 (SPS) - African Union (AU) can play a "decisive role" in resolving Western Sahara conflict by encouraging the two concerned parties to "reopen real dialogue," said Saturday a former Kenyan diplomat on the sidelines of the 38th European Conference for Coordination and Support of Saharawi people (EUCOCO).


"The African Union (AU), as a continental organization, should use its influence to encourage Morocco and the Frente Polisario to resume an effective and serious dialogue in the framework of international legitimacy," said the former Kenyan ambassador and president of an association of support to the Saharawi people, Mr.
Jared Akama Onyari.


He underlined that Morocco "should contribute to peace-building and strengthening security in the Maghreb and in Africa, by allowing the Saharawi people to exercise their self-determination," noting that the Saharawi question is "a question of decolonization, the last of its kind in the continent and the world."


He added that a country like Morocco, which experienced colonialism, should not turn into an occupying power and have expansionist ambitions. (SPS)


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