Washington, Oct 31, 2013 (SPS) - “Polisario Front will continue to place its confidence in the United Nations to put an end to the conflict of occupied Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa,” the Representative of the Polisario Front to the UN, Mr. Boukhari Ahmed, told APS on Wednesday.
The Saharawi representative was speaking after the presentation by the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, of his report to the Security Council on his recent tour in the region.
Mr. Bukhari recalled to the ways recommended by UN to end the conflict, including, first, the holding of a referendum on self-determination enshrined in the UN Settlement Plan in Western Sahara, which, moreover, justified the creation of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
Mr. Ahmed went on saying that the UN has urged to hold negotiations to find a solution guaranteeing the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people.
Nevertheless, he noted, all these solutions required by the UN to end the conflict were “blocked and scuttled” by Morocco, which, in the same time, hinders the “efforts and recommendations” of several countries and international NGOs to include a mechanism for the monitoring of human rights within MINURSO powers.
“Morocco is guilty and responsible for the current failure of the UN efforts,” said Polisario Front’s Representative to the UN.
He, in this regard, expressed hope that the UN can meet the challenge which, he said, affects “its credibility and international resonate.”
It should be recalled that Mr. Ross, who will return to the region in the coming weeks, suggested, before the Security Council, the launched of “a new phase in the negotiations based on discreet and separate bilateral exchanges with each of the parties (Morocco and the Frente Polisario).”
The UN Decolonization Committee passed, a few days ago, a draft resolution on the question of Western Sahara, in which it recommended to the UN General Assembly to support the negotiation process in order to achieve a “fair, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution which allows for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”
Considered by the UN since 1964 as a non-autonomous territory, Western Sahara is the last colony in Africa occupied by Morocco, supported by France, since 1975. (SPS)
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