Morocco is "very satisfied with the debate and the decisions that have been taken" on the Moroccan Sahara issue at the 29th African Union Summit, which wrapped up Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said, stressing that the resolution adopted “is an evolution” because it “recognizes the leadership of the United Nations”.
At a press conference following the African summit, the minister said that “we are in a philosophy where realities are beginning to be put on the table”. “Manoeuvres and dithering have been discarded. Today, we have positions that go in the right direction”, the minister added.
According to Bourita, the resolution is an “evolution” at three levels. First, the report of the Permanent Representatives Committee of the AU, which was adopted seven years ago, asked the African Commission on Human and Peoples' rights to carry out a mission in the occupied territories of the SADR, he said.
The current text is “completely different”, Bourita said, pointing out that “today, things are clearer since the adopted text is completely different from the previous one, completely different from the one adopted in the last eight years. It reflects a reality to a few countries that propose this mission. There is a large majority of countries that strongly reject it, and therefore the report has merely reflected this divergence of positions and called for a constructive dialogue”, he said.
“All terms, all provocative terminology +occupied territories+ +violation of human rights+ have been deleted today from these draft resolutions”, the minister said.
The second important element, he added, was the “very important” resolution on the issue of the Sahara, adopted Tuesday in Addis Ababa by “recognizing the leadership of the United Nations” and stresses that “the management of this issue is in New York”.
“The AU can and even ought to support this process”, the minister stressed.
Regarding the third level of development of the adopted resolution, he recalled that the Conference “welcomes the appointment by the UN SG of a new representative accepted by the parties to the conflict, in the person of former German President Horst Kohler.
The African Union Commission on Monday voted in favor of a “consensual” solution to the artificial conflict on the Moroccan Sahara, welcoming at the same time the intention of the new representative of the UN Secretary-General Horst Köhler to launch a new initiative for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.