France Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sahara Autonomy Plan at UN

"France considers the Moroccan autonomy plan of 2007 as a serious and credible basis" for the settlement of this dispute, affirmed the Permanent Representative of France to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, before the members of the Security Council following the adoption of resolution 2602 extending the MINURSO mandate for one year, reports the MAP.

Like other countries, France insisted on the need to respect "the ceasefire," and called on MINURSO to play the "essential role" that falls to it "to limit the risk of escalation and for the stability of the region." The French representative also expressed France’s support for the new Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura.

"The resolution we have just adopted reaffirms the Council’s support for the political process that must be relaunched within the framework of the United Nations. His taking office on November 1 should make it possible to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution in accordance with the resolutions of this Council," he said.

For the record, the United Nations Security Council extended the MINURSO mandate for one year, while insisting on the credibility of the plan proposed by Morocco to resolve the persistent conflict around the Moroccan Sahara.