The personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Staffan De Mistura has completed his bilateral talks with the parties involved in the Sahara issue and informed Antonio Guterres.

This week, Staffan De Mistura met with all the parties involved in the Sahara issue, starting with Algeria, the Polisario, then Mauritania and Morocco, as well as Western countries indirectly involved in the situation, namely Spain, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France.

He conducted “informal and bilateral consultations,” terms designed to appease the wrath of the Algerians, who had previously refused to take part in the UN-initiated roundtables, even though Security Council resolutions had formally urged them to do so.

These “informal” bilateral discussions have mainly helped the personal envoy of Antonio Guterres to take stock before the next session of the UN Security Council scheduled for April where Staffan De Mistura must deliver a presentation of the situation.

The UN announced on Monday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received on Thursday evening his personal envoy for the Sahara to discuss the results of the “informal and bilateral consultations” that de Mistura held earlier in the week and to discuss ways to relaunch the political roundtable process to move the issue forward.

Last October, the latest UN resolution on the Sahara stated that the Security Council “strongly urges” Morocco, Algeria, the Polisario, and Mauritania to engage with the Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, throughout the process with a realistic spirit and commitment.

Read Also: De Mistura to hold ‘informal bilateral consultations’ with parties of Western Sahara file this week

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Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, is currently taking part in the ninth global forum of the alliance of civilizations’ inaugural session in Fez.

The forum, which is hosted by the Spiritual Capital of the Kingdom of Morocco on the 22nd and 23rd of November, will be attended by nearly 50 member states represented at the ministerial level.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, the High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, praised His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s leadership in fostering harmony, understanding, and respect for one another.

Moratinos stated, that Morocco and His Majesty King Mohammed VI have demonstrated a model policy of mutual respect and played a crucial role in promoting peace, moderation, understanding, and reconciliation between different countries in an interview with the Arab Maghreb Press Agency (MAP) the day following the 9th Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations (AOC), held in Fez on November 22–23.

The UN High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations highlighted that Morocco is a country at a crossroads where various cultures and influences have coexisted throughout its history and that it has been and continues to be a refuge of peace and coexistence under the rule of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

The UN official highlighted that it is important to promote tolerance so that people can accept mutual respect, but it’s also important to understand one another, get to know one another better, and collaborate for a better world. Pope Francis’ visit and his meeting with HM the King further confirmed this understanding and this desire for dialogue, Antonio Guterres official noted.

The former chief of Spanish diplomacy, Moratinos, stated that Morocco maintains these principles of religious tolerance because the Jewish population there receives the highest level of recognition of any Arab nation.

HM the King had graciously agreed to hold this forum in Fez, which has a long history of religious tolerance and respect. Moratinos noted that Fez, a dynamic city that has experienced significant change, maintains all of this cultural heritage and historical legacy, making it a symbol of peace and tolerance, ensuring the success of this forum.

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AFP is once again playing a terrible role at a time when the international community has revived its hope for a peaceful solution to the regional dispute over Moroccan Sahara as a result of the appointment of a new UN Secretary-Personal General’s Envoy.

In his report on the press conference held by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday evening in New York, the AFP correspondent deliberately ignored one of the most important facts that has become the core of UN doctrine in dealing with the Sahara conflict, namely, that this conflict exists between “parties” in which Algeria plays the role of instigator and undermines all regional peace efforts.

Mr. Guterres had emphasized that it was “time for the parties to see the necessity for a dialogue leading to a solution” to the Sahara issue, and had specifically underlined “all parties,” not “the parties,” as indicated in the French Agency’s account.

According to the AFP story, the latter has abruptly broken professional ethics and journalistic accuracy norms by providing wrong findings and false claims.

As a result, the AFP correspondent, who made his goals clear from the start by referring to Morocco and “POLISARIO” as the only parties to the Algerian-initiated conflict, focused on Mr. Guterres words in an attempt to mislead anonymous readers.

Clearly, the journalist had expressed his opinion on a case in which his country was taking a completely different stance, either because he was unaware of the issues dealt with by the United Nations or because he was blinded by the behind-the-scenes confusion of some instigators acting under Algeria’s guidance.

By refusing to clarify the inaccuracy, AFP is plainly endorsing the significant professional error of its journalist as well as the hidden objectives of certain antagonistic circles in achieving a peaceful solution to the Sahara conflict in the Maghreb region.

Indeed, the AFP’s and its journalist’s clear prejudice is arguably the more problematic because it involves a political perspective on a UN-addressed topic. In this regard, it’s worth noting that the journalist in question has never mentioned the several Security Council decisions dealing with the Sahara issue, including Resolution 2602.

It’s worth noting that these resolutions use the term “parties” and specifically mention Algeria’s involvement and responsibility for the current situation.

This professional blunder by AFP joins a long line of too enthusiastic articles, remarks, and robotics that, if they need reminding, form an anti-Moroccan campaign waged by “hysterically active” circles against Morocco’s and France’s interests.

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  Mr. Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, represented His Majesty King Mohammed VI in the Paris Conference on Libya, presenting the royal approach to resolving the Libyan situation and His Majesty’s desire to make Morocco a country for Libyan dialogue.

Mr. Bourita assured participants that His Majesty King Mohammed VI is closely following developments in Libya and is framed by his royal vision of Morocco commitment, which was held today under the joint chairmanship of President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, and President of the exiled Libyan Presidential Council.

Such an approach, based on respect for the Libyan people’s choice and the avoidance of guardianship, had allowed great progress to be made, beginning with the signing of the Political Agreement on Delays in December 2015.

The Minister recalled that the Bouznika Accords of 6 October 2020 made progress toward the reunification of the seven sovereign positions, that the Libyan Parliamentary Conference of 23 November 2020 facilitated the first meeting of 123 Libyan parliamentarians from East and West since 2011, and that Rabat’s commitment to December 2020 allowed representatives from the House of Representatives and the Supreme Council of Libya to come closer together.

Mr. Bourita urged the Conference participants to send Libya and the international community strong and unequivocal messages.

He also urged Libya to commit to a better future in order to maintain the gains made thus far. The elections have the potential to turn the ceasefire into a sustainable peace and a final resolution of the legality issue.

Mr. Bourita emphasized the need of ensuring that the legislative framework for Libya’s elections is “consensual” and “inclusive,” noting that such rights will reinforce Libya’s sovereignty and provide the international world with access to a single Libyan axis.

After firmly expressing Morocco’s support for Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s government’s efforts, the Minister recalled that Morocco was ready to support any deal between the Libyans.

Mr. Bourita said that “Morocco is ready to support anything that Libyans agree on, and that is what Libyan brothers are well aware of,” stressing the need to change the role of the international community and Libya’s partners.

Mr. Bourita stated that “Morocco, which remained a land of dialogue where Libyan brothers met spontaneously, has always regretted that some regard Libya as a diplomatic commercial origin,” while others regard it as a proxy conflict,” adding that “What each must do is to accompany a united Libya, without preaching or interfering, in finding conditions for a lasting peace, including through disarmament, the departure of foreign mercenaries, and the reintegration of local migrating populations

Mr. Bourita continued by expressing Morocco’s support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Personal Envoy, Ján Kubiš, in their efforts to promote peace in Libya.

It should be remembered that the Paris Conference envisions international support for the ongoing political transition and the timely staging of elections.

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