Moroccan King Mohammed VI ordered the authorities to help accelerate the withdrawal of United Nations peacekeeping forces from the Sahara, after a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Russia, which led to the non-renewal of the mission that has been ongoing for 35 years.
The Moroccan king called on the Ministry of the Interior to assume responsibility for coordination tasks and support the liquidation and withdrawal of the mission, in reference to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in the Sahara, known as MINURSO, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.
In this context, the Moroccan Royal Court confirmed, on Wednesday, Morocco’s commitment to a ceasefire in the Sahara, despite the end of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the region, which lasted 35 years, after the Security Council refused to renew its mandate last week, which led to the withdrawal of the international presence, which was monitoring the ceasefire in this decades-long conflict.
The Royal Court confirmed, in a statement, following a meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI, and attended by the Prime Minister, the King’s Advisor, and the Army Commander, that Morocco’s commitment to the ceasefire will not change with the end of the United Nations mission.
The Royal Court stated in the statement that the United Nations mission has proven unable to ensure adherence to the ceasefire, and that its initial tasks have become obsolete.
The statement said that the Moroccan king gave his instructions to “firmly and vigilantly implement” the priorities of “full respect for the integrity and unity of the Kingdom’s lands, its national security, and the reassurance of its citizens, especially the residents of the southern provinces.”
The Royal Court announced last week that ending the UN mission would mean withdrawing the Sahara issue from the consideration of the Security Council.
In an interview with official media last Saturday, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that Rabat's next step would be to "remove Western Sahara from the United Nations Decolonization Committee," saying that Rabat has the support of two-thirds of UN member states.
The United Nations, which considers the region a non-self-governing territory, established its mission in 1991, following an armed conflict that killed at least 9,000 people, according to Bloomberg News Agency.
The renewal of the mission's mandate stalled in the UN Security Council last week, after the United States proposed a radical restructuring of the mission, which largely reflects the plans of its ally Morocco regarding the region, but Russia used its veto power against the draft resolution. On the other hand, Washington rejected a Russian proposal to extend the mission’s mandate for one year, in light of the good relations between Moscow and Algeria.
