Exclusive: US Supports Morocco’s Autonomy Plan in Closed Security Council Meeting
PERSISMA, New York – The United States has once again lent its tacit support to the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Western Sahara, an informed source inside the Security Council told Morocco World News.
On Thursday, the Security Council held a closed-meeting with Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary General for Peace-keeping Operations to discuss the latest developments of MINURSO’s activities after Morocco decided to expel its civil component last March.
During meeting, which was held at the request of Venezuela and Uruguay, Ladsous said that the UN Mission in the Western Sahara is still operational despite the departure of its civil component. He stressed, however, that “the mission can no longer fully play its role fully in line with its mandate.”
Commenting on the Under-Secretary General’s remarks, the US’ representative expressed the hope that contacts underway between Morocco and the UN Secretariat will help restore trust between them, and stressed that there is a real willingness from both sides to end the crisis.
While she said that her delegation continues to call for the return of MINURSO’s civil component to the territory, she stressed that the “Moroccan autonomy Plan is an approach that could meet the aspirations of the population of Western Sahara.”
During the meeting, France, Senegal, Egypt and Spain showed their support for Morocco in its friction with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The French representative said there are efforts made to restore trust between Morocco and the UN Secretariat and there is a need to wait for the outcome of these efforts. He went to add that these “efforts have succeeded in containing the crisis,” and stressed the need to “avoid setting artificial deadlines.”
Senegal echoed the French position, and called for intensifying efforts to restore trust between Morocco and the UN Secretariat.
Echoing the position it adopted in last March’s meeting, Spain stressed that the friction between Morocco and the UN chief constitutes is the core of the problem, and called for resolving it through “calm diplomacy.”
On the other hand, echoing the frustration of several influential member states with the way Ban Ki-moon has handled his friction with Morocco, the Russian delegation said that the UN Secretariat should not part of crises, but should rather provide advice and recommendations to the Security Council.
The Russian representative went on to add that in case there is no end to crisis in sight, the UN Secretariat should inform the Council of the steps that should be taken.
