Algiers, 27 July 2024 (SPS) - French government's decision to recognize the so-called "autonomy plan for the territory of Western Sahara" is a "serious drift" that tramples underfoot international legality and supports Moroccan occupation of Sahrawi territories in defiance of the will of the Western Sahara people, Sahrawi officials said.
In a statement to APS, the member of the Polisario Front's National Secretariat and chairman of the Sahrawi National Council, Hamma Salama, said the new position was a "serious drift" that is in contrast with the role of France in the UN Security Council and as a member of the "Friends of Western Sahara," within the council.
Salama said such a role "is supposed to push it to respect the UN Charter and resolutions and work for a just solution to Western Sahara issue, which has been on the list of territories awaiting decolonisation since 1963."
Salama added that the French drift "torpedoes the efforts of the UN Secretary General's personal envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, and threatens international peace and security."
According to the official, this position comes "at a moment when the suffering of Western Sahara people, who have been fighting for their right to self-determination and independence for more than 50 years, however guaranteed by international law, is increasing."
The French decision in no way affects the will of Western Sahara people, "who remain determined to win their rights through armed struggle, unity and resistance," he stressed.