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Western Sahara conflict resolution: Morocco is afraid of negotiation

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Algiers, March 08, 2018 (SPS) -Member of the Frente POLISARIO National Secretariat and Sahrawi coordinator with the Minurso M’hamed Khadad said Wednesday that Morocco was “afraid of negotiation” to settle the Western Sahara conflict and underlined “a lack of willingness” to engage in the UN-backed process.
"Morocco’s prevarications before responding to the invitation of the UN and the statements made by the Moroccan Foreign Minister after meeting with Horst Kohler unfortunately reflect a lack of will to engage in the UN-backed peace process, " Kheddad said in a statement to APS.
Khadad, who called the international community at witness, said that "Morocco is afraid of negotiation, which, as the UN repeats, must take place without preconditions and even less with the dictates of the past.”
"Faced with calls from the UN and the African Union (AU), Morocco opts for intransigence and the flight forward. Therefore, we call the international community at witness," stressed Khadad.
Moreover, the Saharawi official also said that “Morocco must face the facts, cooperate calmly and admit what the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had recently recalled: Morocco and Western Sahara are two separate territories."
The UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Horst Kohler met the day before in Lisbon with a Moroccan delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Nasser Bourita
After the meeting, Bourita, quoted by Moroccan media, said that "it is not a process of negotiations but a contact to discuss the evolution of the Western Sahara issue.” SPS
 
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