Moroccan King Mohammed VI said on Saturday evening that the Sahara issue, which the Polisario Front seeks to separate from Morocco, "is the mirror that Morocco views the world with," adding that the recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara is what defines its relations with the rest of the world. In a speech he addressed to the Moroccan people on Saturday evening on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the "Revolution of the King and the People" in which Morocco fought for independence from the French protectorate, he expressed his gratitude to the United States and a number of European, African and Arab countries. European countries have supported the autonomy proposal submitted by Morocco to solve the problem of Western Sahara, including Spain, Germany, Serbia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Cyprus and Romania. The King stated, "Thirty countries have opened consulates in the southern regions (Sahara) to reflect their support for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahara." The Moroccan monarch expressed his appreciation to a number of "kings, princes and heads of brotherly Arab countries, especially Jordan, Bahrain, the Emirates, Djibouti and the Comoros," which opened consulates in El-Ayoun (the largest governorates of Western Sahara) and the city of Dakhla. He also expressed the same position regarding "40 percent of African countries belong to five regional countries that have opened consulates in Laayoune and Dakhla," as well as countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. He also thanked "the rest of the Arab countries that have consistently affirmed their support for the Moroccan Sahara, led by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt and Yemen." At the same time, the Moroccan monarch called on "Morocco's traditional and new partners, which adopt unclear positions regarding the Moroccanness of the Sahara, to clarify their positions and revise their content in an unequivocal manner." The dispute over the territory of Western Sahara, between Morocco and the Polisario Front and its ally Algeria, is one of the oldest conflicts in Africa. This conflict began after the independence of the Sahara from Spanish colonialism in 1975. The Polisario Front was established a year later and took up arms against Morocco, demanding the secession of the region, which is rich in fisheries and phosphates, and is believed to have oil deposits. The war did not subside until after the United Nations intervened in 1991, and Morocco proposes autonomy for the desert regions under Moroccan sovereignty, while the Front clings to the option of secession.

Source: Reuters