New York, September 30, 2018 (SPS) – Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdelkader Messahel affirmed Saturday in New York that the issue of the decolonization of Western Sahara is “the primary responsibility of the United Nations,” reiterating Algeria’s position in favor of the exercise by the Sahrawi people of their “inalienable” right to self-determination.
“The issue of Western Sahara is the primary responsibility of the United Nation as it is a decolonization issue. Algeria considers that its settlement couldn’t be reached only through the exercise, by the Sahrawi people, of their inalienable right to self-determination,” he said in a speech made in the general debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Messahel reiterated Algeria’s “strong support” to the efforts of the UN secretary general and his special envoy for Western Sahara.
In this regard, he expressed the wish that their action could “contribute, with the African Union’s contribution, to the resumption of negotiations, without prerequisites and in good faith, between the two parties, the Moroccan Kingdom and the Polisario Front” to reach “a mutually acceptable political solution ensuring the self-determination of the Sahrawi people.”
Messahel affirmed that Algeria follows with “particular interest” the conflicts and crises shaking the region, pointing out that the political solutions remain “the best approach” for the lasting settlement of conflicts.
The minister ensured, in this regard, that while fully assuming its role within its means, Algeria “is always reiterating its conviction, drawn from its own experience, that when searching a lasting resolution to conflicts, there is no better approach than the one favoring political solutions through the appropriation by the concerned parties and the inclusive dialogue which places the top national interests above any other consideration, preserving thereby the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the States.” (SPS)
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