Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Omar Hilale, took the floor at the UN General Assembly to clarify the Kingdom’s position on the Sahara and Algeria.
During the general debate of the 80th session of the National Assembly, Ambassador Hilale responded firmly yet diplomatically to remarks made by Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf regarding the Moroccan Sahara.
In what observers described as a “firm but measured” statement, Hilale emphasised his intent to “set the record straight” and “address each point calmly, without polemics or hostility,” countering what he deemed inaccurate claims.
He recalled that the inclusion of the Sahara issue on the General Assembly’s agenda 62 years ago was initiated by Morocco itself.
“History will remember that it was Morocco, as early as 1956, that placed the Sahara issue on the decolonization agenda. This inclusion did not occur spontaneously but followed the Kingdom’s claims,” he stated.
Hilale also noted that the Algerian minister omitted reference to Resolution 3458 B, adopted by the General Assembly in 1975, which acknowledged the Madrid Accords ending Spanish colonization of the Sahara.
“It was in this very hall fifty years ago that the General Assembly recognised the legitimacy of these accords, which formalized Morocco’s recovery of the Southern Provinces,” he said.
Responding to Algeria’s framing of the Sahara as a decolonization matter, the ambassador stressed that the Security Council has for decades treated the issue as one of peace and security, within the framework of a peaceful dispute resolution process.
“Since 2007, the Council has adopted annual resolutions reaffirming the primacy of the Moroccan autonomy initiative, considered serious and credible,” he added.
Addressing Attaf’s claims about “imposed realities,” Hilale highlighted the profound socio-economic transformation of the Southern Provinces: “Today, the realities of the Moroccan Sahara are billions in investment, lasting peace, and exemplary stability. It boasts the longest bridge in Africa, a north-south highway, universities, university hospitals, and the continent’s largest deep-water port.”
He also underscored the strong participation of Saharan populations in political and economic life, along with the opening of more than 30 consulates in Laâyoune and Dakhla, calling it “a concrete recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty.”
Hilale noted that the United States has encouraged its companies and agencies to invest in the region.
MK/sf/lb/gik/APA