SADR Representative Says Russia Can Greatly Contribute To Western Sahara Settlement

Russia, as a permanent UN Security Council member and a country with influence in North Africa, could make a great contribution to bringing Morocco and the Polisario Front to the negotiating table to resolve their years-long dispute around Western Sahara, the minister delegate for African affairs of the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) Russia, as a permanent UN Security Council member and a country with influence in North Africa, could make a great contribution to bringing Morocco and the Polisario Front to the negotiating table to resolve their years-long dispute around Western Sahara, the minister delegate for African affairs of the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) told Sputnik.

For decades, Morocco has been involved in a conflict with the Polisario Front movement over control of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was transferred under control of Morocco and Mauritania in 1973. In 1976, Polisario Front declared that it had established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. This partially recognized state claims Western Sahara, but controls only a small part of it. The United Nations does not recognize the republic and demands that a referendum on self-determination be held. Morocco pushes a plan for the region's autonomy, while Polisario insists that the status of the territory should be determined by a referendum among the local population.

"Russia could play a very important role in the UN Security Council but also in the North Africa to push the two parts of Morocco, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, to sit down at the negotiation table and support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy [Horst] Koehler," Hamdi Khalil Mayara said, adding that the republic maintained contacts with Russia and had recently held consultations with the country's officials.

According to the minister delegate, the partially-recognized republic seeks a direct dialogue with Morocco with a view to finding a solution which would respect the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.

"We want to switch to direct negotiations between us and the Kingdom of Morocco to prepare the ground to find a solution which respects the right of the Sahrawi people for self-determination as fast as possible," he stressed.

Mayara went on to note that South Africa � which will hold the African Union (AU) presidency next year � could be another country and a current UN Security Council member, which could also play a role in helping to resolve the crisis around Western Sahara.

"The weight of South Africa, the history of fight against apartheid, and of support to the liberation movement, calls for South Africa through its influence, its international relations to play an important role for a definitive solution to the problems of Western Sahara, which lasted for too long, and to push the international community to respect, international legitimacy, so that the people of Western Sahara could exercise their right for self-determination as fast as possible," he said, when commenting on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent words of support for "the struggle for self-determination by the Sahrawi people."

The minister delegate added that South Africa would host a conference on solidarity with the Sahrawi people in March.

Commenting on the AU initiative to launch the African Mechanism on Western Sahara, whose first meeting was held on Sunday, Mayara said that the organization played a significant role in efforts to settle the protracted crisis.

"There is a decision of the AU which requires the two states to sit down at the negotiation table. The AU has also asked the two parties � Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic � to accept the visit of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights as soon as possible. Our government accepted it, we expect Morocco to accept it in their turn too. The AU and the UN are the two responsible for the issue of Western Sahara," he said.

Russia has repeatedly stressed that the final formula to resolve the dispute should be acceptable to both Morocco and the Polisario Front and provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara through procedures consistent with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. Moscow also expresses determination to continue working with all the parties to the Western Sahara settlement and supports UN-mediated talks between the two sides in Geneva.