Ambassador Youssef Amrani Adresses An Open Letter To South African Deputy Minister Of Foreign Affairs

“Security Council resolution 690 to which you referred was a major turning point in the initiation of a UN process, which over the years (…) has recognized the sole relevance of a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution based on compromise”.

The exclusivity of the UN process tending to reach a political solution to the issue of the Moroccan Sahara cannot be marred by any approach that would seek to question its primacy or hinder its expression, affirmed, on Wednesday, Morocco’s Ambassador to South Africa, Youssef Amrani.

In an open letter addressed to the South African Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Candith Mashego Dlamini, following a speech she gave at the University of Limpopo and which made references to Morocco and the Moroccan Sahara on the basis of partial and impartial assessments, Amrani recalled that the African Union (AU) formally endorsed this requirement through its resolution 693 adopted in July 2018 at the level of African Heads of State in AU summit held in Nouakchott.

“Security Council resolution 690 to which you referred was a major turning point in the initiation of a UN process, which over the years (…) has recognized the sole relevance of a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution based on compromise”, wrote the Ambassador to Mashego Dlamini.

He argued in this context that the Kingdom has always been involved in providing support to brotherly African countries in their struggle for independence. “South Africa has witnessed this in the most concrete way even with the avowal of the late President Nelson Mandela”, he said, arguing that “the financial, military and political support of the Kingdom of Morocco was decisive in the paths taken by anti-colonial and anti-apartheid history ”.

Amrani continues that “Morocco cannot be wrongly accused of the same evil that it fought against with strength and determination, both internally and continentally”.

The diplomat recalled, in this regard, that the so-called recognition of the alleged “RASD” by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) is not the result of a decision or of an African will, but that of “the serious violation of the constituent charter of our institution”.

“Without a vote or procedure, the pseudo RASD has forced the organization into political processes that do not honor international legality or the principle of African unity”, he said.

The Moroccan Ambassador also noted that the Pan-African genesis and momentum cannot be reduced to the creation of the OAU in 1963, arguing that this creation is the crowning of an approach of solidarity, union and fraternity carried by African leaders and founding fathers of the institution who, years ago, had met in Casablanca in 1960 under the leadership of Morocco and the late King Mohammed V.

Amrani did not fail to point out that if there is one place where politics must “bow to scientific and academic rigor”, it is indeed on the university bench, “where our youth, our primary wealth, builds a critical mind based on knowledge and not preconceptions”, explaining that “there is a necessary distinction to be made between sensitivities and facts, between judgments and history and therefore fundamentally between ideologies and truths”.

The diplomat says he always believed that the commitments of the two countries had to be made consistent in order to promote the desired dynamics. “The responsibilities incumbent on us go far beyond short political views and alliances of circumstances”, since Morocco and South Africa “share a common destiny, because they have a shared African identity, a history to honor and a future to build”, he concludes.

You might also like

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More