Russia, China, Pakistan, and Algeria have criticized the US-drafted measure as unbalanced and inconsistent with UN decolonization principles<\/p>\n
The UN Security Council has approved a resolution backing Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan as the basis for talks to resolve a decades-long conflict over Western Sahara.
\nDuring a meeting on Friday, 11 of the council\u2019s members voted for the US-drafted text, which also extends for one year the mandate of a UN mission tasked with preparing a referendum in the disputed North African territory. China, Pakistan, and Russia abstained, and Algeria did not participate.
\nMorocco annexed Western Sahara shortly after Spain ended colonial rule in 1975. The sparsely populated territory has since been the stage of Africa\u2019s longest-running territorial dispute between Rabat and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks full independence for the Sahrawi people. The two sides fought a 16-year war that ended in 1991 with a fragile UN-mediated ceasefire.
\nRabat submitted a proposal to the UNSC in 2007 to grant limited autonomy to the territory by delegating administrative, legislative, and judicial powers to local residents while retaining the Moroccan flag and currency. Morocco would also control the phosphate-rich region\u2019s foreign policy, security, and defense, a move the Polisario Front rejects.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: UN Security Council to determine status of disputed African territory<\/p>\n
The US, UK, and France have endorsed the plan, calling it the most credible solution to the nearly 50-year conflict. Belgium, Spain, Germany, and Portugal have also aligned with Rabat\u2019s proposal.
\nOn Friday, the Security Council urged Rabat and the Polisario Front to engage in \u201cdiscussions without preconditions, taking as basis Morocco\u2019s autonomy proposal, with a view to achieving a final and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.\u201d\u00a0
\nMorocco\u2019s King Mohammed VI welcomed the decision as a historic turning point in the dispute and toward \u201ca Morocco whose rights and historical borders would not be infringed upon by anyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
No man\u2019s land: Why this territory never became a country<\/p>\n
Algeria, however, criticized the resolution, arguing it does not reflect UN decolonization principles and prioritizes Morocco\u2019s territorial ambitions while neglecting proposals submitted by the Polisario Front.
\nRussia\u2019s representative called the text \u201cunbalanced\u201d and reflective of the national position of the US. China said it abstained because the resolution did not adequately address all members\u2019 concerns, while Pakistan cited insufficient emphasis on self-determination.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0RT \/ RT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia, China, Pakistan, and Algeria have criticized the US-drafted measure as unbalanced and inconsistent with UN decolonization principles The UN Security Council has approved a resolution backing Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}