By Gaëlle LaleixPaulina ZidiPosted on 06-12-2018Modified on 06-12-2018 at 20:24
The protagonists of the Western Sahara issue met for two days in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations. An appointment to put back on track a stalled process since 2012. If the meeting went smoothly, no real progress has been made. Only announcement, a next meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2019.
From our special envoys in Geneva,
A meeting " without pressure " , this is how the round table of Geneva was presented as soon as it was announced by diplomatic sources who warned: do not expect much. And they were right. The UN envoy for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, in charge of the case for a little over a year had not set the bar very high. Its objective was first and foremost to gather around the same table the actors of the file. Successful mission since during two days in Geneva Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania met and discussed.
At the final press conference, the word " success " came back several times from the UN, Morocco and the Polisario Front. For Horst Kohler first of all, these two days of meetings were intense. " My belief remains that a peaceful solution to this conflict is possible, " said the former German president. " From our discussions, it's clear to me that no one wins at maintaining the status quo ."
Good wishes displayed
All parties have signed the final communiqué. They recognize " that cooperation and regional integration , rather than confrontation, are the best way to address the many important challenges facing the region ". And at a press conference, Morocco and the Polisario Front hailed the sincerity of the exchanges, a certain commitment, the good atmosphere and the wills on both sides.
Statements full of good intentions even if the reality of these two days of discussions was not so simple. Indeed, in Geneva, the delegations came. After some formal twists, once the table plan issues and labels were settled, everyone agreed to sit around the table. Each country even took stock of the situation, but everyone agreed that nobody agreed. And the protagonists separated, two hours earlier than expected.
United Nations Resolution 24.40
The question of the status of Western Sahara was not mentioned, as was the sharing of wealth or the situation of refugees. It was UN Security Council Resolution 24.40 that finally caught the attention of the participants. A resolution, presumably free of interpretation, since Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, believes that it opens the way to an autonomy of Western Sahara, when Khatri Addouh, president of the Parliament of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and welcomed the UN's commitment to a referendum on self-determination.
If all the participants were invited to speak, then the subjects who are angry were not discussed. It was at the moment when pledges of good will were mentioned that things got strained. The Polisario Front spoke of the release of Saharawi political prisoners, the possibility of UN human rights observers visiting Western Sahara and the ICRC's search for missing persons during the armed conflict. was completed in 1991. Proposals brushed aside by Nasser Bourita who called for a clean sweep of the past to focus on the future.
No hyphen apart Morocco-Algeria
Finally last aspect of this meeting, many observers waited to know if the bilateral tensions between Morocco and Algeria would be invited to the meeting of Geneva. Morocco believes that in this issue of Western Sahara, his neighbor has a " blatant responsibility " and that he supports the Polisario Front. A problem that plagues relations between the two countries. But if the economic benefits of working together were put forward at this meeting, especially by Horst Kohler, there was no talk of their bilateral relationship. The head of Moroccan diplomacy has also declared in a press conference " that this was not the place ". As for the Algerian delegation, it did not express itself publicly during these two days.
Finally, the purpose of this meeting was to be able to predict another. This is done since the delegations have committed to meet again, on the same format, during the first quarter of 2019. That is to say before the UN Security Council looks at the renewal of the mandate of Mission the UN in the Sahara at the end of April, but probably after the next African Union summit scheduled for late January in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia, where Morocco and SADR will sit in the same hemicycle.
Detailed map of Western Sahara. © RFI On the same subject
Western Sahara: Regionalization on the menu of the 2nd day of meeting in Geneva
Western Sahara: first day of discussion after six years of silence
Western Sahara: more than 40 years of conflict
Western Sahara: UN attempts to revive dialogue
Algiers' response to Mohammed VI's offer of dialogue
Morocco-Algeria, the impossible conciliation?
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