Morocco’s ambassador to Russia, Lotfi Bouchaara stressed Morocco’s commitment to respect the ceasefire and the political process to reach a final solution to the Sahara issue.
This is a commitment at the highest level as shown by the talks of His Majesty King Mohammed VI with the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the diplomat said in an interview with BBC’s “Focus on Africa”.
On the resolution of this dispute, Bouchaara stressed the importance of negotiation, saying that “going to war is a bad option.”
In that regard, the diplomat reiterated Morocco’s commitment to the political process which “cannot succeed in the absence of real partners”, voicing the Kingdom’s willingness to negotiate “with parties and not with a ghost.”
He stressed the key role of Algeria in this dispute which “arms the polisario and provides it with international support.” calling for “more consistency in the Algerian approach.”
Bouchaara also pointed out the incompatible choices of the “polisario”, namely its criticisms of the political process, on the one hand, and its declarations of war, on the other.
“With its 12-century long history, Morocco is ready to defend itself and fears nothing, but despite all this, it continues to believe in the political process as the only solution to this dispute,” said the ambassador.
On the operation launched by Morocco on November 13, Bouchaara said it was not-offensive in nature and aimed at securing free movement between Morocco and Mauritania.
The actions of armed elements of the “polisario” started on October 21 and caused prejudice to the El Guergarat crossing, he said.
Faced with this proven violation of the ceasefire agreement, Morocco has favored the diplomatic approaches before launching a defensive operation conducted with great professionalism and which did not cause any injuries, the diplomat noted.
Morocco’s peaceful action was supported by more than forty countries. “No one tolerates violation of the law in this region,” he concluded.
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