(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Moroccan King Mohammad VI has emphasized that his nation's sovereignty on all national territories is uncompromising and that Rabat's initiative for self-rule in Western Sahar is the ultimate concession his leadership can offer as basis for negotiations to settle the question.
The Monarch, in a speech marking the 39th anniversary of reclaiming the Sahara from Spanish colonial rule, aired late on Friday, said all proposals that have been put forward to settle the strife in the Sahara, claimed by the separatist Polisario movement, would not be at expense of Morocco's territorial unity and sanctity.
Good intentions that have been expressed by Morocco for resolving the issue must not be interpreted as weakness, he said, cautioning against bids intended to portray Morocco as an occupation power in the Sahara. "It is wrong to compare the Sahara with East Timur or other territorial conflicts in eastern Europe," he said.
UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, Minurso, is a peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, established in 1991, as part of a settlement intended to paved way for a cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front (representing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) over the contested territory of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara). It was tasked to organize a referendum to enable natives choose between integration with Morocco and independence.
King Mohamad VI rejected any bid to revise principles and criteria for negotiations or any attempt to review the peace-keeping mission, but affirmed readiness for talks either directly with the Polisario or through the UN. He urged the UN to stop "appeasing the real party in this strife (alluding to Algeria)," urging it to hold Algiers responsible for the struggle continuation.
Morocco has accused Algeria of backing the separatists in the Western Sahara. Morocco reclaimed the desert region from the Spanish occupation in 1975 following a huge demonstration.
Currently, Rabat proposes self-rule under Moroccan sovereignty for the natives. However, the Algeria-backed Polisario movement is seeking independence
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