King Mohammed VI hails ‘historic’ UN support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Sahara

RABAT - Morocco's king on Friday lauded as "historic" a UN Security Council decision to support his country's plan for Western Sahara, as the Moroccan diplomacy emerges victorious after decades of conflict between Rabat and the Algeria-backed separatist Polisario Front.

"We are opening a new and victorious chapter in the process of enshrining the Moroccan character of the Sahara, which is intended to bring this issue to a definitive close," King Mohammed VI said in a speech in which he expressed his "immense pride."

“Morocco will proceed with the updating and detailed formulation" of the plan to submit it "at a later date" to the UN,” said the monarch.

King Mohammed VI that the framework would serve as "a realistic and applicable solution" that "should constitute the sole basis for negotiation."

The Western Sahara is a vast mineral-rich former Spanish colony that is largely controlled by Morocco but has been claimed for decades by the pro-independence Polisario Front.

The Security Council had previously urged Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania to resume talks to reach a broad agreement.

But, at the initiative of US President Donald Trump's administration, the council resolution supported a plan, initially presented by Rabat in 2007, in which Western Sahara would enjoy autonomy under Morocco's sole sovereignty.

King Mohammed said Trump's "efforts have paved the way for a final settlement of this conflict."

The Moroccan monarch invited Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to engage in dialogue, "so that, once our differences have been overcome, we can lay the foundations for new relations based on trust, fraternity and good neighbourliness."

Western Sahara, a tract of desert the size of Britain, has been the scene of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute since colonial power Spain left in 1975 and Morocco annexed the territory.

The UN Security Council, in a US-drafted text, called for the parties to engage in negotiations based on an autonomy plan first presented by Morocco to the United Nations in 2007. Morocco considers the territory its own while the Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic.

"We urge all parties to use the coming weeks to come to the table and engage in serious discussions," US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the council after the vote. "We believe regional peace is possible this year, and we will make every effort to facilitate progress."

Russia, China and Pakistan abstained, while Algeria did not vote. The remaining 11 council members voted in favor of the resolution, which also renewed for one year the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO.

"The final decision on the future cannot, must not, belong to anyone other than the people under colonial domination," Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council after the vote. "This text ignores the proposals of the Polisario Front ... They are a party to the conflict, and their opinion must be heard."