UNSG Personal Envoy for Sahara Staffan De Mistura met, Friday in Rabat, with Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Morocco’s permanent representative to the UN Omar Hilale. De Mistura’s visit to Morocco, part of a regional tour, is meant to revive the round-table process that brings together Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the polisario.
The three countries and the separatists’ movement are named parties to the conflict under UNSC resolution 2654, adopted on Oct. 27, 2022.
According to a statement by the foreign affairs ministry, the Moroccan delegation recalled the immutable values on which is based the Moroccan stance. These parameters were set by King Mohammed VI in his Green March speech (Nov. 6, 2022), electing the autonomy initiative as an exclusive basis for negotiating a political solution to the Sahara conflict, under Morocco’s sovereignty.
The UN top official had met earlier with officials, dignitaries, and economic stakeholders in the southern cities of Laayoune and Dakhla. He saw for himself the mega investment projects and infrastructure erected under the new development model for the southern provinces, launched in 2015.