The commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement on Monday (October 11th) in Belgrade gave Morocco and Algeria a new opportunity to cross swords on the Sahara issue.
And it was the Algerian Prime Minister, Aïmene Benabderrahmane, who was the first to draw his sword. In his speech to the audience, he welcomed “the constant and principled position of the Movement in favor of the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and invited member countries to perpetuate this precious support, particularly in the current economic situation. sensitive that the cause of Western Sahara is going through in the face of the inability of the United Nations to fulfill its mission of completing decolonization in this territory ”.
The head of government continued by urging “the United Nations and the Security Council to fully assume their responsibilities and to work to relaunch the UN process in order to guarantee the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination”.
Morocco responded through the voice of its permanent representative to the UN, Omar Hilale. The ambassador, who is leading the Moroccan delegation to this meeting, reiterated the condition demanded by the kingdom for the resumption of negotiations that Staffan de Mistura is about to launch in the coming months. “The participation of Algeria in the political process as a real party responsible for the creation and maintenance of this regional dispute is the only way to reach the desired political solution”, he insisted. And to call on the neighbor to the East “to assume full historical responsibility, abandon obsolete and buried options, and fully engage in the round table process in a spirit of realism and consensus.”
Omar Hilale also called on the international community to act to force Algeria to allow the High Commissioner for Refugees to carry out a census and registration of the population of the Tindouf camps. A demand also made by the Security Council in its resolutions, but which comes up against the rejection of the Algerian authorities.
Unlike the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement held in virtual format on July 13 and 14 in New York, Omar Hilale did not plead in Belgrade for Kabylia’s right to self-determination.
