Moroccan Sahara: Autonomy Plan is ‘Realistic’ Proposal – Jorge Dezcallar

The Moroccan autonomy initiative to resolve the Sahara dispute is a “realistic proposal”, said Jorge Dezcallar, former Spanish ambassador to Morocco and the United States, dismissing forever the idea of a self-determination referendum. “Autonomy is a realistic proposal and it is in line with the UN process,” Dezcallar said in an interview with the electronic newspaper 20minutos.es, published Thursday. “We must be clear: There will never be a referendum and if anyone thinks there will be, they are mistaken,” said Dezcallar, who also headed Spain’s National Intelligence Center between 2002 and 2004, adding that after 47 years of status quo, the time has come to “unblock the process”. “What is clear to me is that there will be no referendum,” he said, assuring that the majority of Sahrawis and even movements within the “polisario” plead for “alternative formulas”. In this context, Dezcallar emphasized the support of the international community to the Moroccan autonomy proposal. “The United States has approved Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara (…). France has long supported the autonomy proposal. Germany did the same earlier this year. And now Spain (…) has joined this wave of support,” he added. The positions of world powers support the initiative proposed by Morocco, he concluded.