Ban Ki-Moon replies to Morocco: “I am with the international legitimacy…”

After Morocco accused the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of indulging in complacency, and of having skidded verbally regarding his pseudo “lack of objectivity” on the Western Sahara issue, the UN Chief’s reply to these lame accusations were forthcoming.

Indeed, speaking through his spokesman, Ban Ki Moon reframed the King of Morocco by rejecting the tendentious allegations from the latter on the occupied Saharawi territories stressing that he is with the international legitimacy in this file.

And therefore, the UN said that “the status of the territory of Western Sahara remains to be defined because it is a non-autonomous territory.” This is recognized by “all UN member states, including Morocco itself,” he stated adding that this issue is recorded in “the annual resolutions of the General Assembly adopted without a vote.” 

The UN Secretary General also recalled that “the Security Council asked the UN to facilitate negotiations between the two parties at issue namely Morocco and the Polisario Front aimed at hammering out a mutually acceptable political solution to enable the self-determination of the Saharawi people”.

In addition, the UN Secretary General did the impossible by deploying all his efforts to resolve the Western Sahara situation before the end of his mandate by bringing new attention to the need for a viable solution to this 40 year-long conflict.

During his recent visit to the region, Mr. Ban Ki Moon deplored the human ordeal experienced by the Sahraoui  people where he witnessed a desperate situation prevailing in the refugee camps from Western Sahara resulting from decades of life without hope in the most dire circumstances.

Also, before this, Mr Ban Ki Moon pledged to revive mediation between Morocco and the Polisario Front, announcing the resumption of a tour by his Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, of the region in a bid to clear the way for a settlement of the Western Sahara conflict, while confirming the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.

In this context, the UN stressed that Sahrawi refugees cannot return home in “conditions that include satisfactory governance arrangements under which all Sahraouis can freely express their desires, while insisting that the solution goes through “genuine negotiations conducted in good faith and without preconditions,” in order to “give hope to these long-neglected people and allow them to return home.”

For her part, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mrs. Federica Mogherini, confirmed the international legitimacy in resolving this conflict, noting that the EU will respect the decision of the European Court, which rescinded of late the agricultural and fishing agreements between Morocco and the EU.