Eminent British experts have called upon the British government to align its position with the international community in supporting Morocco’s autonomy plan as “the only credible solution” to settle the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
Speaking at a roundtable hosted Friday by the London-based think-tank The Royal United Service Institute (RUSI), the participants expressed deep worry over the dire humanitarian situation in Tindouf camps, southwestern Algeria, and warned against exploiting the status quo to foster extremism and terrorism in the region.
Moderated by Professor Marc Weller, Chair of International Law and Constitutional Studies at Cambridge University, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, former UK National Security Adviser and former UK representative to the UN, Mbarka Bouaida, President of the Guelmim Oued-Noun region, and diplomat and writer Hassan Hami, the event provided an opportunity to highlight the enhanced regionalization process and the ongoing development momentum in Morocco’s Southern provinces.
The event, themed “Resolving the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara: a Moroccan-British perspective,” was attended by a number of experts and eminent figures who emphasized Morocco’s “fundamental” role in promoting stability and security in the Sahel region.
The roundtable brought together over twenty high-level participants, including officials from the British Foreign Office and Ministry of Defense, former British ministers and diplomats, and geopolitical and defense experts and scholars.