sahara-news.org

It is impossible to talk about the present Morocco without keeping in mind the milestone which the year 1975 represents in its history, the large horde of the Green March volunteers crossed the artificial boundaries of the Moroccan Sahara colonized by Spain. These historical moments, commemorated each year in Morocco, are for the King, from the Constitution side, the guarantor of the territory integrity, an occasion to reaffirm the Moroccanity of the territory, and the willingness of the Kingdom to find a solution to this human tragedy which some of the Moroccan Sahrawis confined in the camps of Tindouf in Algeria, are undergoing.
The Sahara issue has constituted for the King Mohammed VI, since his accession to the throne in 1999, a challenge and a lever.

Algeria has described Morocco as an “occupying power” while in the contrary, Morocco is a great federator.  This country has always showed a political good-will to go forward and to build a common destiny with its neighbors because the stakes exceed the regional competitions and the strategies of power.
The Western Sahara conflict, which has lasted too long, is in fact a big barrier for the countries of the area development.
By adopting by consensus a resolution on Western Sahara supporting the process of negotiations in progress, the fourth committee of UN General Assembly (UNGA) has confirmed on October 21 that the Moroccan proposal for autonomy was realistic and credible.

While proposing autonomy for Western Sahara, the Moroccan state is conscious that it cannot at the air of globalization play its role of reunification in the region if it does not succeed in mobilizing the dynamism of the territorial communities.
Autonomy has its requirements of which most important being the existence of an effective democracy. It is also a very risky initiative because it reinforces the local identities. For Morocco this risk is isolated, the Kingdom is known as being a state and a nation and even more, a secular state-nation. A large autonomy in the Sahara would transcend this historical logic.
Mr. Lorenzo Olarte Cullen, former president of the Canaries islands had noted the “great improvements” made by Morocco and had declared before the UN fourth commission that: “Morocco offered to the Western Sahara a proposal of autonomy which is not without risk for a centralized state, the territory would have its own three branches of government: legislative, judiciary and executive while taking care of human rights and fundamental freedoms. That supposes a process of reconciliation which will facilitate the reunification of the families”.

It is an experienced US diplomat who has coordinated State Department activities towards the Arab world and has previously served as US ambassador in Syria and Algeria that Ban Ki-Moon has chosen to succeed the ambassador Peter Van Walsum former negotiator in the Western Sahara conflict.
After a long career in the US State Department, Christopher W.S. Ross, 65 years old succeeds to the Dutch diplomat who has been committed to the Sahara conflict and has been rewarded for the pertinence of his conclusions, the objectivity of his commitment as well as his command of the realities of the dispute based on “realpolitik”. His famous declaration “the option of independence is neither realistic nor feasible” has exasperated Algeria and the Polisario front which condemned the intrusion of “political realism” in the file.

The insoluble Sahara conflict remains a wound within the Maghreb family. In spite of its dramatic character; this conflict reminds the Moroccan of their solidarity during the green march. The gift of wisdom of both, the people and the king of Morocco put in failure another “red march”, a conspiracy of the enemies of Morocco.
On October 16, 1975, addressing an important speech to the nation, the late Hassan II announced the launching of a peaceful march to recover the Moroccan Sahara then under Spanish occupation.
The “March” or “Massira” has become a reference which will allow, in all serenity, the Moroccan youth to add other glorious pages to their history. It has been proven that in the adversity, the Moroccan people know their duty in preserving their territorial integrity.
After more than 33 years, the wind of the “Green March” continues to blow on the renewed Morocco and is part of the historical conscience of the country.