Le Matin – The members of the Security Council reaffirm their...

The UN Security Council held closed-door consultations on Wednesday on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, during which members of the Council reaffirmed their full support for the political process carried out under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations since 2007. According to knowledgeable diplomatic sources contacted by MAP, members of the Security Council also reiterated their support for the round table process with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the “polisario”, which created positive momentum in the UN process. They also stressed that the resumption of the round table process should be based on the progress made by the former Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Horst Köhler.
On this occasion, several countries supported the Moroccan autonomy initiative, whose seriousness and credibility have been enshrined in all Security Council resolutions since its presentation in 2007. Moreover, the calm reigning in the Moroccan Sahara, as The UN Secretary-General attests it in his last report presented to the Security Council, was highly welcomed during this meeting, during which the UN Under-Secretary-General for Africa, Bintou Keïta, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Sahara, Colin Stewart, briefed the Council.
During these closed-door consultations, the members of the Security Council also expressed their great concern about the thousands of extremely serious violations by the Polisario of the ceasefire, military agreements and Security Council resolutions, such as as detailed in the last report of the Secretary-General. The members of the Council also welcomed the role of MINURSO in the supervision of the ceasefire, which constitutes its main mandate, as underlined by the Secretary-General in his report.
According to the same sources, several delegations deplored the lamentable situation prevailing in the camps of Tindouf, in Algeria, where the sequestered populations suffer the worst exactions and violations of their rights by the separatist armed movement of the “polisario”, in full view. and with the connivance of the authorities of the host country, Algeria, which illegally resigned from its responsibilities to protect these populations, which the UN Secretary General and the UN human rights bodies have firmly denounced in several of their reports. The adoption of the resolution for the renewal of Minurso’s mandate is scheduled for October 28. In his report to the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General recommended its renewal for one year.