Moroccan UN Ambassador Rebuffs Algerian Claims on Western Sahara Dispute

Ambassador Omar Hilale, during this virtual ministerial meeting, stated that the Moroccan Sahara is a matter of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the kingdom, in response to the hostile declaration of the Algerian official. He affirmed that Morocco exercised its inalienable right to territorial integrity and recovered its Saharan provinces in 1975, thanks to the Madrid agreement and in accordance with United Nations practice.

According to the Moroccan diplomat, in these times of health crisis which call for solidarity, "Morocco would have liked the participants to stop attacking the territorial integrity and sovereignty of their neighbor". Also, "respect for territorial integrity" is "a cardinal principle for Morocco and the Non-Aligned Movement" and "must not be used with variable geometry". He mentioned that Morocco, which has chosen the path of dialogue, is fully engaged in the inclusive UN political process on this regional problem, on the basis of the resolutions of the UN Security Council, adopted since 2007.

"The political process has seen a positive dynamic, initiated by the former Personal Envoy, Horst Köhler, through the holding of two round tables in Geneva, with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario," recalled the diplomat. Omar Hilale also emphasized resolutions 2440, 2468 and 2494 of the Security Council which have established Algeria as the main party to this regional dispute, asking it to contribute in good faith to the process, while insisting on the Moroccan autonomy initiative.

Omar Hilale returned to the situation of the populations in the Tindouf camps, in Algeria, in order to draw the attention of the representatives of the 120 member states of the NAM to the multiple violations and abuses of fundamental rights of which they are victims. He also specified the diversion of humanitarian aid in the Tindouf camps for decades on the basis of investigation reports from the European Anti-Fraud Office, UNHCR and WFP.