“Remald” addresses the facts of the Sahara issue

The Moroccan Journal of Local Administration and Development (REMALD), in its “Topics of the Day” series, issue 125, published a book under the title: “The issue of the Moroccan Sahara is at the test of international law and geopolitical realities,” by the writer Muhammad Zakaria Abu Al-Dhahab.

Remalde explained that the book sheds light on the legal and geopolitical aspects associated with the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, monitors the historical roots of this problem, and highlights the main role of Spain in its emergence in the wake of its incursion into the Moroccan Sahara in 1884.

According to the same source, the book addresses the role of other actors who played different roles in the complexity of the conflict. This concerns Mauritania, Algeria, and the separatist Polisario Front, noting that the armed conflict that broke out in the wake of Spain’s withdrawal from the Sahara was at the behest of foreign countries that were looking to divide Morocco and weaken the monarchy.

The author states that it was possible to resolve the problem between Morocco and Spain after the Kingdom’s independence through direct negotiations, but Spain under Franco’s rule had no desire to do so, but rather was looking to exploit the natural resources of the region and weaken Morocco from a geopolitical standpoint.

It is worth noting that Morocco was the first country to propose including the Sahara issue within the framework of the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly on decolonization in 1963. After organizing the Green March, on the basis of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice confirming the ties of allegiance between the Sultans of Morocco and the Sahara tribes, and the conclusion of the tripartite Madrid Agreement in November. 1975 and Spain’s withdrawal from the Sahara. In February 1976, an armed conflict broke out between Morocco and the Polisario militias supported by Algeria and other countries. It lasted for years until 1991, when a resolution was adopted by the Security Council that approved the adoption of the UN settlement plan and the creation of the MINURSO mechanism, in preparation for organizing a referendum regarding the disputed territories. on her.

The same source stressed that this approach did not lead to tangible results, which prompted the United Nations to propose a third solution, that is, a political solution based on consensus based on negotiations conducted by both parties to the conflict, with the support of the Friends of the Sahara, and with the participation of interested countries, especially Mauritania and Algeria.

In light of these developments, Morocco presented to the attention of the Security Council an ambitious proposal for autonomy in the Sahara, consistent with the provisions of international law and the goals of the United Nations Charter. However, Algeria and the separatist front did not accept this new consensual “paradigm,” clinging to the classic proposal that had become outdated and inapplicable, according to the book itself.

The book also devotes chapters concerned with issues related to human rights in the Sahara, and their exploitation by some actors, governmental and non-governmental, to confuse the Moroccan approach that seeks to solve the problem through peaceful means.

It is noteworthy that since Morocco’s return to the Organization of the African Union in 2017, important geopolitical developments have emerged, including successive recognitions of Morocco’s complete territorial integrity over its Sahara, or at least support for the autonomy plan, issued by countries that have weight on the international scene, such as the United States of America, Spain, and Germany. France; This is in addition to the opening of consular representations in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, indicating the crystallization of an international custom that stipulates the existence of a frequently used international practice in accordance with Article 38 of the Basic Law of the International Court of Justice.

The book combines sober legal analysis, based on the tools available within the framework of renewed international law, with an in-depth geopolitical and realistic diagnosis of this artificial conflict that has been around for a long time and is no longer palatable from this perspective, as the United Nations and other actors are pushing to resolve it based on new approaches that take into account the constraints. New geopolitics, incorporating a new paradigm centered around the concept of internal self-determination embodied in the Moroccan autonomy proposal.