King Mohammed VI: No Solution in the Sahara outside Moroccan Sovereignty

King Mohammed VI of Morocco reviews a guard of honor at the National palace during his state visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
King Mohammed VI of Morocco reviews a guard of honor at the National palace during his state visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
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King Mohammed VI: No Solution in the Sahara outside Moroccan Sovereignty

King Mohammed VI of Morocco reviews a guard of honor at the National palace during his state visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
King Mohammed VI of Morocco reviews a guard of honor at the National palace during his state visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI reiterated his country’s firm stance on the need to exert full sovereignty over the Sahara, stressing that there was no solution to this issue outside Morocco’s control over the area.

“No settlement of the Sahara affair is possible outside the framework of the full sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara and the Autonomy Initiative, which has been declared serious and credible by the international community,” the King said in a televised speech on Monday, in commemoration of the 42nd Anniversary of the Green March.

He underlined that Morocco “remains committed to the current dynamism of the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres”, in cooperation with his personal envoy, adding that this commitment “comes within the framework of respect for the principles on which the Moroccan stance is based.”

However, King Mohammed stated that the Kingdom “will not sit by and wait for the desired solution to be found.”

“Instead, we will move ahead with our endeavors to promote development in our southern regions and offer our populations there freedom and dignity. In this regard, we shall continue to apply the development model specifically designed for these regions and seek, in parallel, to implement the advanced regionalization plan, which will enable the inhabitants of the region to run their own affairs democratically and to contribute to its development,” he stated.

The King went on to say that the projects launched in the Sahara and those that would follow would make the region an integrated economic pole that would enable it to play its role as a link between Morocco and Africa and as a center for relations between the countries of the region.

He emphasized the need to strictly abide by the references adopted by the Security Council to deal with this regional issue, as the only international body charged with fostering the settlement process.



EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Syria Sanctions Relief at End of Month

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
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EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Syria Sanctions Relief at End of Month

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS

European foreign ministers will meet at the end of January to discuss the lifting of sanctions on Syria, the EU foreign policy chief said on Sunday in Riyadh ahead of a meeting of top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats and Syria's new foreign minister.

Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on Jan. 27 in an effort to decide how the 27-nation bloc would relax sanctions on Syria, Reuters reported.

After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) a month ago. The group has since set up a caretaker government in Damascus.

Any European decision to ease sanctions would be conditional on the new Syrian administration's approach to governing, which must include "different groups" and women and "no radicalization", Kallas said, without elaborating.

"If we see the developments going to the right direction, we are ready to do the next steps...If we see that it's not going to the right direction, then we can also move back on this."