Morocco’s UN Envoy Asserts Sahara’s Moroccan Status at UN General Assembly

"The Sahara has been Moroccan since the dawn of time and it will remain Moroccan until the end of time. Let it be clear to anyone who wants to hear it, that Morocco’s efforts and goodwill to put an end to this regional dispute have as their starting point and purpose only this evidence rooted in the soul of the Moroccan people from Tangier to Lagouira," he declared.

For Mr. Hilale, the Moroccanness of the Sahara is a historical, political, geographical, human, religious and legal evidence. "History is stubborn and cannot in any way be remodeled at the whim of the fallacious and variable interpretations of the principles by some, the geopolitical interests of others and the hegemonic ambitions of some," he hammered.

The Moroccan diplomat recalled that the Kingdom of Morocco, a country with a rich history dating back more than 12 centuries, has been the victim of multiple colonization, both in space and in time, and has had to sometimes heroically fight, sometimes negotiate hard, to recover its territorial integrity. "This process of recovering through negotiation the different parts of the Kingdom of Morocco has been unique in the UN history of decolonization, as it began in 1955 and lasted until the recovery of the Moroccan Sahara in 1975," added Mr. Hilale.

He pointed out that the Kingdom of Morocco is celebrating, on Friday, November 6, with joy, pride and unwavering conviction in its legitimate rights over its southern provinces, the 45th anniversary of the glorious Green March. "This sacred event, which allowed Morocco to peacefully recover its Saharan provinces, constitutes a historical epic engraved in the memory of the Moroccan people," said the diplomat.

"The Kingdom, in accordance with the resolutions of the General Assembly, negotiated and signed on November 14, 1975, with Spain, the Madrid Agreement by which it recovered its Saharan Provinces. This Agreement was deposited on November 18, 1975, with the UN Secretary-General and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 3458B, of December 10, 1975," said the ambassador, stressing that the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara is a question of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco, and not of decolonization.