APS Tuesday, 10 April 2018
ALGIERS- Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdelkader Messahel underlined Tuesday, in an interview with France 24, that there is no alternative to negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front for the settlement
of the conflict of Western Sahara.
“There was first the report of the United Nations Secretary General on Western Sahara. We are on the verge of examining by the Security Council of this report. Recommendations were made by the Secretary General on the basis of the report of the mission that he entrusted to former German President Horst Kohler. On this basis, everyone agrees on the fact that there is no alternative to the negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco. These are the recommendations and everyone agrees that these negotiations restart,” underlined Messahel.
“Now when you say that Algeria supports the Sahrawi people, we answered to say: We recognize that Algeria supports the principle of self-determination, it supports the Sahrawi people’s legitimate rights. This is not a secret, it is a principle,” added the head of the Algerian diplomacy.
In a reply to a question on “the involvement of Algeria in the negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front,” Messahel said that “When Algeria was at war for its independence, it benefited from the support of our Moroccan brothers, Tunisian brothers, we benefited from their diplomatic support, logistic support and we even talked about the army of borders, we had armed elements in Morocco and Tunisia, but we never said, and it was unthinkable, that it is up to Morocco or Tunisia to negotiate with France the independence of Algeria.”
UN Secretary General called on the two parties to the conflict Morocco and the Polisario Front to resume direct negotiations, and without preconditions, to reach a fair, lasting and mutually acceptable solution enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.
