Geneva (Switzerland), December 5, 2018 (SPS) - The delegation of the Frente POLISARIO arrived to Geneva, Switzerland, to begin preliminary negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco to reach a definitive solution to the process of decolonization of Western Sahara.
The parties involved, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, will resume the dialogues under the supervision of the UN special envoy for Western Sahara, the former German president, Horst Köhler, in order to enforce the requirements of Resolution 2440 (2018), in which the parties are called to: "resume negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary General, without conditions and in good faith, with a view to achieving a political, just and lasting solution that provides for the self-determination of the Saharawi people."
Sources close to the Frente POLISARIO delegation describe this meeting as an opportunity to draw up an action plan that will lead to official and serious negotiations. Even so, the same source states that "the main obstacle is the lack of will on the part of Morocco to be credibly involved in the search for a peaceful solution and in accordance with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, respecting the legitimate right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence ". In the same sense, it is pointed out that Morocco has been under pressure from important international actors, forcing it to retreat in its intransigence and go to the dialogue table.
The Saharawi source points out that the preliminary negotiations are the result of the efforts of former German President Horst Köhler to give a new impetus and dynamism to the paralyzed meetings since 2012. "The success of this process will depend on the Moroccan willingness to sit down with good will of dialogue and understanding, something to which the POLISARIO is willing, as long as the self-determination and independence of the Saharawi people is respected, "the POLISARIO source concludes.
The meeting, which will last two days, December 5 and 6, will also include the participation of Algeria and Mauritania, countries that share the border with Western Sahara, as observer countries in the negotiations between the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco.
Western Sahara is the last territory under occupation and in the process of decolonization in Africa. Morocco occupied the territory in 1975 after the withdrawal of the colonial power, Spain. Since then, the POLISARIO is the only and legitimate Saharawi representative recognized by the United Nations.
On February 27, 1976, the Sahrawi proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and in 1991 a ceasefire was signed with the Kingdom of Morocco to initiate a peace process sponsored by the United Nations and the African Union with the objective of carrying out the endorsement of self-determination and the culmination of the decolonization process.SPS
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