UN Safety Council backs Morocco's plan for Western Sahara

[ad_1] UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Safety Council on Friday accepted a decision backing Morocco’s declare to the disputed Western Sahara , a shift that aligns with the Trump administration’s support for the North African nation.

Though the vote was divided, the decision affords the strongest endorsement but for Morocco’s plan to maintain sovereignty over the territory, which additionally has backing from most European Union members and a rising variety of African allies.

“America welcomes in the present day’s historic vote, which seizes upon this distinctive second and builds on the momentum for a protracted, lengthy overdue peace in Western Sahara,” Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., stated in his remarks after the vote.

The decision refers to Morocco’s plan as a foundation for negotiation. As with comparable resolutions in earlier years, the textual content makes no point out of a referendum on self-determination that features independence as an choice, which is the answer lengthy favored by the pro-independence Polisario Entrance and its allies, together with Algeria, Russia and China.

In a uncommon speech broadcast on Moroccan tv after the vote, King Mohammed VI celebrated the end result and pledged to complement Morocco’s proposal with extra particulars. He additionally referred to as for dialogue with Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

“We're beginning a brand new chapter within the technique of consolidating the Moroccanness of the Sahara, and shutting, as soon as and for all, this fabricated battle,” the king stated.

The U.S., which sponsored the decision, led 11 international locations in voting in favor, whereas three international locations — Russia, China and Pakistan — abstained. Algeria, Polisario’s main benefactor, didn't vote.

Sidi Mohamed Omar, the Polisaro ambassador to the U.N., thanked the allies who abstained and Algeria for protesting the vote, saying this “made it very clear that in the present day’s decision doesn't indicate any recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.”

“In different phrases, and in plain English, it doesn't indicate recognition of Morocco’s unlawful navy occupation of Western Sahara,” he added.

Western Sahara is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastal desert the scale of Colorado that was underneath Spanish rule till 1975. It’s claimed by each Morocco and the Polisario Entrance, which operates out of refugee camps in southwestern Algeria and claims to symbolize the Sahrawi folks indigenous to the disputed territory.

Amar Bendjama, the Algerian ambassador to the U.N., stated that whereas the decision was an enchancment on earlier iterations, it “nonetheless has various shortcomings.”

The decision says “real autonomy underneath Moroccan sovereignty might represent a most possible resolution.”

The measure additionally renews the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for one more 12 months, as has been carried out for greater than three a long time. Prior extensions, nevertheless, haven’t included a reference to Morocco and its allies’ most popular end result.

Trump envoys reiterate help for Morocco The vote got here weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff jolted the area by suggesting on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that peace between Morocco and Algeria might be reached inside 60 days. The neighboring international locations aren’t at struggle, however haven’t had diplomatic relations for 4 years.

Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for African affairs, reiterated U.S. help for Morocco’s plan in an interview with Sky Information Arabia this week.

The U.N. decision calls on all events concerned to “seize this unprecedented alternative for a long-lasting peace.” Relying on progress, it asks Antonio Guterres, the Secretary Normal, to evaluation the peacekeeping mission’s mandate inside six months.

The shift might unsettle a long-stalled process that for many years has eluded decision, regardless of a U.N. peacekeeping mission designed to be short-term. Demonstrations have ensued in Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria this week, the place folks have vowed not to surrender their struggle for self-determination.

A long-lasting stalemate Morocco controls almost all of Western Sahara, aside from a slim strip often known as the “free zone” that lies east of a Moroccan-built sand wall.

A 1991 ceasefire was meant to pave the way in which for a referendum on self-determination, however combating over voter eligibility prevented it from going down.

Through the years, Morocco has reworked the disputed territory, setting up a deepwater port and a 656-mile (1,055-kilometer) freeway. State subsidies preserve meals and vitality costs low, and the inhabitants has ballooned as Moroccans settle in cities similar to Dakhla and Laayoune.

Polisario withdrew from the ceasefire in 2020 after clashes close to a street Morocco was paving to Mauritania.

The group has since commonly reported navy exercise, whereas Morocco has principally denied open battle. The United Nations calls it “low-level hostilities.”

Stress builds as priorities shift The battle is the driving pressure in North African diplomacy. Morocco sees help for its autonomy plan as a benchmark for the way it gauges its allies.

Final October, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura suggested partitioning Western Sahara , a proposal neither aspect accepted. He urged Morocco to make clear what autonomy would entail and warned an absence of progress may elevate questions in regards to the United Nations’ function and “whether or not there's house and willingness for us to nonetheless be helpful.”

The push to reassess the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara comes as america slashes funding for U.N. packages and companies, including peacekeeping .

U.S. officers are taking an a la carte approach to funding , choosing which operations and companies they imagine align with Trump’s agenda and which now not serve U.S. pursuits. They argue that the U.N.’s finances and companies are bloated. They pledge to halt new contributions pending a evaluation of each U.N. company and program.

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Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco.

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