Morocco's efforts to develop Sahara region praised

The Central African Republic welcomed on Friday before the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly, Morocco's efforts for the development of the Sahara region, in particular the socio-economic and infrastructure projects that "proceed from the Moroccan autonomy initiative."

The autonomy initiative "meets international standards on the delegation of authority to local populations, as well as the substantial achievements of Morocco in the area of human rights mentioned in Security Council Resolution N  2414", said Gilbert Touangai, General Director of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic. He also underlined the importance of reaching a "lasting solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara," Morocco News Agency (MAP) reported.

"The Central African Republic supports the political process under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General and the facilitation of his Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Horst Kohler, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable and negotiated political solution to this dispute, as recommended by the Security Council since 2007," he insisted.

"That is why," he continued, "the delegation of the Central African Republic supports Security Council Resolution 2414, which stresses the "need to move towards a realistic, pragmatic and sustainable political resolution to the Sahara issue, based on compromise."

He also recalled that the Security Council has called on neighbouring States, in particular Algeria, to "make important contributions to the political process and strengthen their participation in the negotiation process".

"It is also in this spirit that my delegation would like to recall that Resolution 2414 reaffirmed that a political solution to this long-standing dispute and an enhanced cooperation among the Arab Maghreb Union Member States will contribute to the stability and the security in the Sahel region," Ambassador Touangai pointed out.

As the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General did, "we welcome the full cooperation of Morocco which, in June 2018, made it possible for him to visit the Sahara region, particularly the cities of Laayoune, Dakhla and Smara, where he met with the representatives of the populations of the Moroccan Sahara that were democratically elected," he added.

The diplomat also stressed that Kohler’s invitation to Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania to participate in a round-table in Geneva on December 5 and 6 is "a laudable initiative that we welcome, and we also praise Morocco's spontaneous and positive response to this invitation, which is part of its commitment to finding a political solution to this regional dispute."

Similarly, the Central African official expressed his country's "concern" with regard to the sufferings of the populations in the Tindouf camps, and insisted on "the need to conduct a census, in accordance with international humanitarian law, the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the recommendations of the Secretary General of the United Nations and the relevant Security Council resolutions."