Moroccan King Mohammed VI and President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Cheikh al-Ghazouani spoke of their great desire to consolidate and raise this relationship "to a level that will allow this cooperation between the two neighboring countries to deepen, broaden their perspectives and diversify their domains".
During a phone call, Mohamed VI expressed his willingness to pay an official visit to Mauritania, while inviting his counterpart to visit Morocco.
In another context, Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations Omar Hilale said: “When a party declares war and withdraws from the ceasefire, then it no longer has a place on the negotiating table. The Polisario has simply disqualified itself from any participation in the political process.”
Hilale was a guest on “Connect the World”, hosted by star CNN presenter Becky Anderson.
Morocco’s Ambassador said the Polisario and its armed militias caused the tensions in the buffer zone of El Guerguerat in the Moroccan Sahara, where they brought back, on October 21, women and children, in addition to armed elements, to block civil and commercial traffic at this crossing point.
Despite this, Morocco abstained, at the request of the Secretary-General of the UN, of any action for several days, he stressed.
“But you know, there is a time for diplomacy and a time for action”, explained the Moroccan diplomat, adding that faced with the refusal of the Polisario to comply with the calls of the head of the UN, Morocco had no choice but to assume its responsibilities.
Reacting to the fallacious propaganda of the Polisario separatists on the situation in El Guerguerat, Hilale affirmed that Morocco stands by the facts, because “as the second president of the United States, John Adams once said: 'the facts are stubborn'.”
“And the facts are that it was the Polisario which brought civilians and armed elements back to El Guerguerat. And it is the Polisario which officially declared the end of the ceasefire”, argued the ambassador.
Hilale also recalled that King Mohammed VI sent a letter and met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres to whom the Sovereign reaffirmed Morocco’s commitment to the ceasefire and the resumption of the political process.
“Morocco, as the King has affirmed, is not at war, but it reserves the right to defend itself and to defend its population, its territory, and its territorial integrity. And that is what has happened in recent days, “said the Moroccan diplomat.
The action of Morocco aimed at restoring civil and commercial traffic in El Guerguerat was supported and supported by a large part of the international community, in particular twenty African countries, the Organization of the Conference Islamic Republic of (OIC), the Gulf States (GCC), the European Union, as well as the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
While the Polisario is only supported by one country, namely Namibia, in addition to its usual supporter, Algeria.
Referring to the actions of the Polisario, Hilale recalled the words of the late Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, who once said that we should never fully trust armed groups and separatist movements “because they are not bound by any international obligation”.
