Exercising the right of reply of the Kingdom of Morocco, following the provocative intervention of the new Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, during the general debate of the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (MNA), held in virtual format on the 13th and July 14, Ambassador Permanent Representative of Morocco to the UN, Omar Hilale, made a point of responding in detail to all Algerian allegations on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara.
In a note addressed to the Azeri presidency of the Movement, and circulated to all members, the Moroccan diplomat said he was deeply surprised at the choice of the Algerian minister, who addressed the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, during “his first statement. in an international forum, since his recent appointment ”at the head of the diplomacy of his country. Mr. Hilale underlined that the question of the Moroccan Sahara, “which falls exclusively under the UN Security Council, was neither on the agenda of the meeting, nor in connection with its theme”. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of ministers focused exclusively on multilateral efforts to respond to pressing global challenges, including the health and socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ambassador noted.
In response to a pseudo “resumption of military conflict”, evoked by the Algerian minister, Ambassador Hilale stressed that “this fiction exists only in the propaganda releases of the armed separatist group, Polisario, and the dispatches of the Algerian press agency ”, insisting that“ no offense to the Algerian MFA, the situation in the Moroccan Sahara is calm and serene, as it is duly recorded in the daily reports of Minurso and confirmed by the international media ”.
In addition, the statement of the Algerian MFA is “totally out of step with the reality on the ground in the Moroccan Sahara”, exposed the Moroccan ambassador, recalling that the populations in the provinces of southern Morocco “live in peace and serenity. and participate fully in the socio-economic development of the region, as well as in political life ”. In addition, “the recognition of the United States of the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara is reinforced by the opening of 22 Consulates General, of MNA member countries, in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla”, he declared. .
Responding to the Algerian Minister’s call for the appointment of a new Personal Envoy of the Secretary General for the Moroccan Sahara, Ambassador Hilale remarked that it is “Algeria and the armed separatist group that it has created, the Polisario, which refused several candidates proposed by the Secretary General of the UN ”. It is therefore “Algeria and the Polisario who are responsible for the delay in appointing the new SG Personal Envoy” retorted Omar Hilale.
In reaction to the Algerian MFA’s wish for a credible UN process, Omar Hilale recalled that “this credibility was enshrined by the Round Tables, as a process, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2440, 2468, 2494 and 2548”. What Mr. Lamamra “knowingly concealed”, revealed the Moroccan ambassador. And to affirm that “Algeria cannot shirk its responsibility, which it has finally assumed by participating, as a party, in the Round Tables, since 2018”.
The Moroccan diplomat similarly noted that the Algerian minister “will not be able to induce, insidiously, the members of the MNA by trying to reduce the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara to two parties. Algeria is and remains the main party and responsible for the persistence of this conflict, for more than four decades, by the armed separatist group interposed ”, underlined Omar Hilale. It is for this reason that the “UN Security Council has reaffirmed, in its successive resolutions since 2018, the responsibility of the four parties to the Round Tables, including Algeria, to participate fully and remain committed, by making proof of realism and a spirit of compromise, throughout the duration of the political process until its conclusion ”, he noted.
In addition, Omar Hilale lamented that the Algerian minister is claiming the right to self-determination for a so-called “self-proclaimed chimeric republic in the Algerian capital, in violation of international law”. Also, “this ghostly republic, is only a fictitious entity, created, financed, armed and maintained by Algeria, in order to implement its regional geopolitical agenda”, observed Omar Hilale. He also specified that it has no recognition “neither de facto nor de jure”, “neither by the UN Security Council, nor the General Assembly, nor the MNA, nor the G77 + China, nor the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, neither the Arab League, nor the International Organization of La Francophonie, nor the Arab Maghreb Union ”.
The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the UN concluded that the Algerian minister, who “stands as a fervent defender of the right to self-determination, denies this same right to the Kabyle people, one of the oldest peoples in Africa, which undergoes the longest foreign occupation ”. Ambassador Hilale added that “self-determination is not an à la carte principle. This is why the valiant Kabyle people deserve, more than any other, to fully enjoy their right to self-determination ”.
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