Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia), July 3, 2017 (SPS) - The chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed Monday, in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), his concern with the current deadlock regarding the conflict in Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975.
“Even though we welcome the decrease in tensions around Al-Guerguerat in Western Sahara, the nomination of a new personal representative of the United Nations Secretary General and his intention to launch a new initiative to settle the political conflict, we remain concerned with the current deadlock,” said Moussa Faki at the opening of the 29th African Union Summit.
“We hope that the presence of both parties (Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) as members of our Union will facilitate a consensual solution, in conformity with international law, which will guarantee the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination,” he said, adding that “the issues of peace and security continue to highly worry us.”
On Sunday, the AU Executive Council reaffirmed, at the end of its 31st session held since Friday in the Ethiopian capital, its support to the Sahrawi cause by confirming the dispatch of an African mission for the evaluation of Human Rights, to the occupied Sahrawi territories despite Morocco’s attempts to block a resolution in this regard. (SPS)
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