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Respect for right to self-determination a sine qua non of Morocco-SADR negotiation resumption

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Paris, 13 June 2021 (SPS) - Sahrawi Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Salek said that it was high time for France and Spain to bring Morocco to the negotiating table with the Sahrawi officials and to cease the war that has been going on since last November in Western Sahara, making respect for the Sahrawi people’s alienable right to self-determination conditional on the resumption of negotiations.
“I think it is high time for France, which can play a key role in the Sahrawi issue, and Spain, which is still considered by the United Nations (UN) as the administering power of Western Sahara, to bring Morocco to the negotiating table and stop the war against Western Sahara,” Ouled Salek said in an interview with France 24 TV channel. 
According to him, the “complicity” of some countries with Morocco will harm this country and its allies.
"I believe that being a good friend of Morocco, as France is, is to get it out of this war. Hassan II was a smart man. He engaged in the war but when he saw that it didn't work, he backed down and accepted the referendum on self-determination. Mohamed VI continues the war and reneged on the commitments made by Morocco during the reign of his father," he said.
The Sahrawi top diplomat stressed that there is hope for a negotiated solution on the basis of the resolutions of the African Union (AU) and the UN.
According to the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), the two member countries of the organization currently in conflict must negotiate to reach a peaceful solution based on the principles of the AU Charter, namely the respect of the borders inherited from the colonial era and the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence. (SPS)
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