Ould Salek dubs “victorious” AU’s firm commitment in favour of Sahrawi cause

Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Salem Ould Salek dubbed Tuesday, in Addis Ababa, “victorious” the firm commitment of the Africa Union’s heads of State and government, who met at the 29th AU Summit, in favour of the Sahrawi cause.

"It is an important victory," said Ould Salek, speaking to the press on the sidelines of the summit, which adopted a resolution on Western Sahara at the end of the African Organization's work. "Africa has said that the issue of Western Sahara is an African issue first and foremost."

AU’s resolution urges the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in consultation with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, to take appropriate measures, including the possibility of re-establishing the AU 1978 Ad Hoc Committee of Heads of State to support UN efforts and encourage the parties present at the level of the African Union to cooperate in good faith to make the new process succeed.

In this regard, the Head of Sahrawi Diplomacy praised the AU decision to authorize the current President of the African Union, the Chairperson of the Commission, the High Representative for the Western Sahara of the African Union and the AU Peace and Security Council to take all initiatives in the African framework and in cooperation with the United Nations to enable the Saharawi people to exercise their right to independence and self-determination.

He said that the African Union's decision came after Morocco's attempt since joining the African Union last January to prevent and thwart all African efforts to achieve peace between Western Sahara and Morocco, which considers that the Sahara issue is exclusively in the hands of the UN Security Council where France has the right to veto.

Morocco had failed last Sunday in its bid to stop a mission from the African Commission to assess human rights in the occupied territories.

the Foreign Minister noted that Morocco, in its is first participation in the AU summit, has failed to delete paragraphs in the reports of the Commission on Human Rights and Peoples commissioned by a resolution of the Executive Council of the African Union to prepare a report and an assessment on the question of human rights in the occupied territories of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

He also explained that following the Moroccan attempt, the Executive Council, after an important debate, called on Nigeria to find a consensus to restore the Commission's functions and mission.