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Morocco to imitate RI to resolve W. Sahara issue
Morocco, a North African kingdom, wants to follow the footsteps of Indonesia to resolve its longstanding dispute over Western Sahara, a Moroccan envoy said
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Morocco, a North African kingdom, wants to follow the footsteps of Indonesia to resolve its longstanding dispute over Western Sahara, a Moroccan envoy said.
"We took lessons from what you (Indonesians) did in Aceh. We think Aceh is a good example, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General Omar Hilale told The Jakarta Post in an interview recently.
He was referring to the historic Aug. 15, 2005 peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which ended more than three decades of conflict, when GAM waged an armed struggle against Jakarta for a separate state.
Hilale was in Jakarta recently to attend the Asia-Africa ministerial meeting on capacity building for Palestine.
Morocco considers Western Sahara, which it calls "Moroccan Sahara", an integral part of its territory and opposes secession, while the Polisario Front, the liberation movement of Western Sahara, says the region was never part of Morocco and seeks a separate state.
According to Hilale, who was Moroccan ambassador to Indonesia in the late 1990s, there are many similarities between Aceh and Western Sahara.
"In both cases there were armed separatist movements. You (Indonesia) managed to convince them (GAM) that it was better to have greater autonomy," Hilale said.
GAM leaders, Hilale said, accepted the offer and now there is peace in Aceh. "And the leader of GAM is the Governor of Aceh".
"The same thing we are offering to the people of Western Sahara and to the Polisario," Hilale said.
He referred to international responses to the Moroccan initiative for greater autonomy for Western Sahara.
"The United Nations Security Council through its Resolution 1813 endorsed the Moroccan initiative," Hilale said.
The United States, Britain and France, described the Moroccan initiative as "credible and serious", Hilale said.
The UN Secretary-General's personal envoy Peter Van Walsum said in his last report to the Security Council that the independence option was neither realistic nor feasible.
Morocco, Hilale said, is trying to find a peaceful solution acceptable to all the parties.
"Morocco engages in these negotiations with goodwill, with the determination to go the extra mile to reach a solution," he said.
"There will be no winner and no loser. It is peace which will be the winner," Hilale said.
Under the Moroccan initiative, Western Sahara will have its own elected executive body. The territory will also have an elected local government, as well as a regional assembly.
But he doubted the sincerity of the Polisario.
"The Polisario is not independent in taking decisions during negotiations. It's the creation of Algeria," Hilale said, while referring to Morocco's neighbor, allegedly the main backer of the Polisario.
The Polisario says Morocco actually occupied Western Sahara in 1975, when the Spanish left the territory. So it has outrightly rejected the autonomy offer. That's why four rounds of negotiations under UN auspices have failed.
The UN recognizes Western Sahara as a non-self governing territory.
But Hilale has a different view.
"This territory (Western Sahara) had historical links with Morocco before the Spanish arrived. Judges and administrators were nominated by the Moroccan King. Our history is there. Our identity is from Sahara. Our links are with the Sahara," Hilale said emotionally.
Indonesia maintains good relations with both Morocco and its rival Algeria. As far as Indonesia is concerned, the warring parties should resolve the dispute through peaceful talks.
