Addis Ababa, 7 February 2022 (SPS) - The resolution of the conflict in Western Sahara must be consistent with the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU), which emphasizes the principle of the inviolability of the borders inherited at the time of independence, says the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in its new report on peace and security in the continent.
"Deeply concerned" about the unstable situation in Western Sahara following the resumption of the war in this non-self-governing territory, the AU PSC stresses the "urgent need to reinvigorate efforts to facilitate a definitive resolution of the conflict, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the AU Constitutive Act.”
The situation remains "tense (...) despite the UN-AU resolutions and decisions", said Uhura Kenyatta, President of Kenya who chairs the PSC at the presentation of the report.
"The PSC has noted with deep concern the resumption of military confrontation between SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) and Morocco," he said.
According to Uhura Kenyatta, the AU Assembly could "request the PSC to discharge its mandate on the conflict in Western Sahara under the relevant provisions of its Protocol and the relevant decisions of the Assembly, by considering the situation in Western Sahara as necessary at the level of Heads of State and Government, including information from the AU Troika.”
In his report, the Kenyan president said that the AU Assembly should ask the African Troika on Western Sahara, so far inactive, to start a political process that must guarantee the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.
"It is also important that this Assembly calls on the Troika to begin a dialogue with the parties to the conflict to find an amicable solution to the conflict that will ensure the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara," said the PSC chairman.
The PSC has included the issue of Western Sahara in its monthly agenda and plans a virtual summit on this issue at the level of heads of state on February 16.
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