ISLAMABAD : His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, held a press conference on July 31, 2024, on France’s position in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, within the framework of the autonomy plan, through a letter from the French President to the King of Morocco, on the occasion of Throne Day on July 30, 2024.
For reference, Algeria announced in an official statement its position on this development, and decided to withdraw its ambassador to the French Republic with immediate effect and reduce the level of its representation in this country.
Minister Ahmed Attaf recalls the signs of the French move and the attempt to pave the way and justify it in advance, through what the French President confirmed on June 13 in his justifications and explanations to the President of the Republic Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune in advance during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in the Italian city of Bari.
Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune responded to this by saying, “The new French position is not just a copy of previous positions, but goes far beyond them, as it focuses on the exclusivity of the autonomy plan as a basis for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, “explicitly recognizes the so-called “Moroccanness of Western Sahara”, and “explicitly includes the present and future of Western Sahara within the framework of alleged Moroccan sovereignty.” The French step “came to feed the impasse into which the autonomy plan has introduced the Sahrawi issue for more than 17 years. It cannot support the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations”, because it contradicts his mission, stressing that “he is not working to implement the autonomy plan, nor does he consider Western Sahara to be Moroccan, nor does he aim to establish alleged Moroccan sovereignty over Sahrawi territory.”
The President also stressed that “the French step does not serve peace in Western Sahara, nor does it serve the search for a peaceful solution, nor does it move in the direction that can contribute to gathering the necessary conditions to accelerate the crystallization of the desired solution to this conflict, in accordance with what international legitimacy has dictated and continues to dictate.”
Minister Ahmed Attaf considers France’s move to “recognize the Moroccan autonomy plan as the sole solution to the Western Sahara issue, to exclude any effort to find an alternative solution to the Western Sahara issue, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, primarily the Security Council resolutions that France participated in drafting and adopting.”
Regarding the repercussions of the French step and its consequences on the Western Sahara issue and on peace and security in our region, the minister says that “the French step, which claims to aim to revive the political process to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara, contributes, on the contrary, to perpetuating the state of stagnation that the political process has been suffering from for nearly two decades. This state of stagnation was directly caused by the autonomy plan presented by Morocco. This Moroccan proposal has never aimed, even for one day, to make a contribution to resolving the Western Sahara conflict, quite the contrary, it aims to:
- Eliminate the right to self-determination granted internationally to the Sahrawi people by aborting the organization of a referendum for this purpose, stifling alternative political solutions and preventing the emergence of any serious and honest initiative to resolve this conflict, other than those The Kingdom of Morocco wants to legitimize the colonial status quo in Western Sahara, to gain more time to consolidate the colonial status quo and impose it on the international community and force it to adapt to it and accept it.”
Therefore, Minister Ahmed Attaf wonders: “How could this proposal have survived for more than 17 years without even an hour, a minute, or even a second being allocated to discuss it?… because it was not taken seriously.” Adding, “How could this proposal, which is being presented today as the magic formula for resolving the Western Sahara issue, not receive the attention of the four UN envoys who have held this position over the past two decades?”
The minister affirms that the French step “is nothing more than a deal that is not valid legally, politically, or morally. It is a deal concluded between two parties at the expense of a third party that is oppressed, namely the Sahrawi people, the owner of the right and the owner of the cause, who have their support and shield in international legitimacy that recognized the legitimacy of their right and did them justice.”
The Minister stresses that “the French decision, despite its goals that serve the colonial reality in Western Sahara, cannot change the international legal data of the Western Sahara issue, that remains in the eyes of international law a decolonization issue, remains registered on the agenda of the UN Decolonization Committee, remains before the UN Security Council, and continues to have a UN mission to organize a referendum in the region, and a personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General whose mission is to seek a political solution that guarantees the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. Therefore, the French step cannot, under any circumstances, change the legal, political and moral face of the Sahrawi issue.”Communication Section Embassy of Algeria in Islamabad
