Lamamra: “Algeria will continue to provide its backing for a just and definitive solution to Western Sahara issue”

Algeria will continue to provide its support for a “just and definitive” settlement of the Western Sahara issue through the organization of a “free and regular” self-determination referendum, said Tuesday in Geneva (Switzerland) the Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra.

“Algeria will spare no effort to extend its backing to the action of the personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, Ambassador Christopher Ross for a just and definitive settlement through a “free and regular” self-determination referendum to test the sovereign will of the Sahrawi people,” Mr Lamamra said in a speech at the High- Level Segment of the 31st ordinary session of the UN Human Rights’ Council.

The State minister underlined that through this “blatant denial of right,” afflicting the people of Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, the self-determination process has been log jammed since 1975, the date of Morocco’s illegal occupation of this territory, declared non-autonomous by the United Nations.

 “The attempts aimed at thwarting the international community’s willingness to unlock the situation shouldn’t distract us from the imperative goal of striving for a viable solution in keeping with the international law,” he underscored, hailing the hastened mission dispatched, last year, by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Sahrawi territory that he described as “a positive sign.”

Last Saturday, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the President of the Republic Mr Abdellaziz Bouteflika affirmed that Algeria will spare no effort to bring its support to the United Nations Secretary General’s endeavor to revive the direct negotiations between the two parties at issue, namely Morocco and the Polisario Front, in order to thrash out a “just and sustainable” solution guaranteeing the Sahrawi people’s legitimate  right to self-determination.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon scheduled, for 6th and 7th March, a fact-finding visit to the region, particularly to the Sahrawi refugee camps. 

This upcoming important visit by the UN Chief to the region was preceded by that of the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross.