Bachir Mustapha Sayed: Trump's decision gave a “new momentum” to the legal aspect of the Saharawi cause

 

In a statement to the Algerian News Agency (APS), the Saharawi Minister in Charge of Political Affairs at the Presidency, Bachir Mustapha Sayed, stressed that the recent deal between the United States and Morocco gave a “new momentum” of international solidarity that highlighted the central legal aspect of Western Sahara issue. Mustapha Sayed described, the decision of the outgoing President, Donald Trump, about Western Sahara as “ephemeral and irresponsible”, but it was advantageous as it gave the Sahrawi issue “the reputation, and publicity that it had not experienced since the approval of the UN Settlement Plan.”

The entire world today knows “the fairness of the Sahrawi issue and the injustice suffered by the Sahrawi people since 1975 by the neighboring country and by the antagonism of other international parties against it, Mustapha Sayed said. He considered that the recent UN assertion of the legal status of the Saharan issue as an incomplete decolonization issue and the right of the Sahrawi people to decide their own future will provide a “new momentum” to settling Western Sahara conflict. The UN position, which was also reiterated by UNSG Antonio Guterres, was a “strong, moral and clear blow that defeats the propaganda and irresponsible decision of the departing U.S President Donald Trump,” and also a reminder that “the unilateral position of one country cannot change the reality of the role and responsibility that has been assumed by the UN body since the 1960s,” he indicated. 

“The UN position was also a setback for the Moroccan occupation, which today celebrates the recognition of a superpower that gave it the alleged sovereignty over Western Sahara, and buried what Morocco has been promoting, for some time, known as autonomy, which the Sahrawi official considered an empty claim that has no address and no future,” Mustapha Sayed underlined.

For him, the international condemnation that was obvious in the official positions of many countries worldwide, in Africa, American continent and within the UN corridors, formed a global consensus to reject the U.S position, which represents nothing but a tweet by the outgoing Trump and cannot be attributed to the U.S administration as it was not approved neither by the House of Representatives nor by the Senate.

In this regard, Bachir Mustapha Sayed called on the United Nations, and its SG Antonio Guterres, to update the Settlement Plan by getting back to serious negotiations and setting an agenda for holding the referendum on self-determination.

“The recent developments in the region, especially following the joining of Morocco to “the Deal of the Century”, the involvement of the Zionist entity in (Zag, Mahbes and Hawza) and enabling Israelis of getting into Maghreb territories, finalized a shameful process of sabotage and conspiracy against the Arab and Islamic world, and demolishing the dream of establishing what is known as the Maghreb Arab Union, he said.

The Sahrawi official pointed out that despite the old Israeli presence in the region and its previous contribution to theorizing and building the military wall of separation in Guerguerat and participating in demarcating and mining it, what is new today is the addition of new technologies funded by some rich countries, which requires preparation and awareness.” With regard to the arms deals that Morocco has concluded with a number of foreign and Arab countries since 1975, which have recently doubled, especially the deal, of acquiring F-35 aircraft,  that Morocco is seeking to conclude with the U.S  as a culmination of its normalization with the Israelis,  Bachir Mustapha Sayed  explained that the rush to arms “ aimed at attacking primarily  Sahrawis, and  a threat to the countries of the region, including Spain, in order to implement Morocco’s expansionist vision.” For him, all these developments will not discourage Sahrawis, who on 13 November confirmed their “determination to continue the armed struggle until the achievement of their rights, and they are all confident that all the plots being schemed  against them would fail.”

Regarding the outcomes of the recent AU extraordinary summit on silencing the guns in the African continent, the Sahrawi official said that "it was a conference to denounce Moroccan aggression, and to remind and demand respect for the AU principles.”

The AU summit established a “historical support” for SADR and its people in its struggle against expansion and aggression, and its results are outstanding, especially with repossession of the AU Peace and Security Council of the Sahrawi issue as a priority and presenting the position to the next AU summit, which is expected to raise the red card in the face of Morocco for its continuing violations in Western Sahara,” he added. “We are satisfied with this summit, its atmosphere, and its message to the occupier to abide by and respect the AU Charter and observe the foundations of the Council based on respecting the inherited borders after independence, non-aggression, and resolving issues by peaceful means, he concluded.