Morocco refused an AU Peace and Security Council declaration about Sahara
Morocco has definitely refused a statement about the Sahara wrote by the Kenyan current Presidency of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC).
On Friday, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita announced that the statement was published after the PSC’s meeting on March 9 about Moroccan Sahara was null and void.
The AU, under resolution 693, considered since July 2019 that the Sahara matter must be discussed within the UN framework only, facing the efforts by Morocco’s opponents to open a new way to resolve the disagreement.
Bourita also said: The PSC’s meeting was marred by multiple flaws and raises questions, and according to observers, the final communique lacks legitimacy and has no legal effect because it intentionally violates the PSC rules and procedures.
Moreover, an African diplomatic source in Addis Ababa informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the statement does not have any legal value because the majority of the members of the council did not approve it, adding that they actually submitted fundamental modifications to it, reflecting clear disagreements about it.
The PSC statement said: The AU Troika should urgently revitalize its engagement with Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic with a view to peacefully finding a permanent resolution to the crisis.
The PSC should discharge its mandate on the conflict in Moroccan Sahara, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Protocol and the relevant Assembly Decisions, by reviewing the situation in Moroccan Sahara as necessary as possible at the heads of state and government level, including receiving briefings from the AU Troika.
Also, the AU Commission was also demanded to instantly take necessary moves for the reopening of the AU Office in Laayoune, Moroccan Sahara, to allow the AU for reactivating its role in the search for a political solution for this longstanding conflict.
The PSC also indicated that it knows the critical role of the UN in assuming its responsibility to find a durable solution to the crisis and called the UN Secretary General to accelerate the selection of a new personal envoy, and invited it to work closely with the AU to improve partnership in peace and security.
Furthermore, the PSC appealed the UN Secretary General to request the United Nations Legal Counsel to provide a legal opinion on the opening of consulates in the non-self-governing territory of Moroccan Sahara.
