Morocco’s UN Envoy Slams Algeria Over Western Sahara Dispute

"The Algerian ambassador is so obsessed with Morocco that he ignores the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, which provides for a popular consultation at the end of the negotiations," retorted the Moroccan diplomat during a session of the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly. He added: "This initiative, supported by the Security Council, is for Morocco the only way to a consensual, lasting, pragmatic political solution, based on compromise, as advocated by this Council." Also, he stated that "it is only thanks to the round tables and the empowerment of the four parties that this region can find peace and stability."

Omar Hilale points to Algeria’s double discourse. "On the one hand, it claims to be neutral, saying that it is not a party, but on the other hand, it gives lessons and questions our commission without ever addressing the Security Council," he said, noting Algiers’ "bizarre" attitude which seems to avoid discussions in the Security Council, which is responsible for decisions on the Moroccan Sahara issue.

The Moroccan diplomat took care to recall that the Security Council is the body that holds international law and negotiates the political solution. "But Algeria prefers to ignore this body, as it ignores the interventions that have resonated in our Commission over the past ten days," he lamented, regretting that the Algerian ambassador likes "the spectacle."

The Moroccan ambassador also refuted the Algerian argument around the alleged existence of a "Sahrawi people." "What people? There is no Sahrawi people. There are Sahrawi populations, some of whom are locked up in the Tindouf camps, controlled by the Polisario militias and the Algerian army," he said, challenging his Algerian counterpart to clarify the term "people." For now, Morocco ignores Algeria and "resolutely pursues its path of development of the Moroccan Sahara region and lets Algeria bark," continued the Moroccan diplomat.