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Tuesday 3 July 2018

The Speaker of the Andean Parliament Official Visit to Morocco

Vocal synthesis
The Speaker of the Andean Parliament Official Visit to Morocco

Sahara Issue, an ‘Artificial’ Conflict Fuelled by ‘Foreign Agendas’ (Andean Parliament Speaker)

The Moroccan Sahara issue is an "artificial" conflict that "serves foreign agendas," speaker of the Andean Parliament, Fernando Meza Moncada, said Saturday in Casablanca.

Meza Moncada told MAP that his visit to Laayoune, during which he met dignitaries and elected officials, enabled him to better understand the situation, adding that he is convinced that "outside forces created this artificial conflict decades ago to serve their interests without any consideration for the opinion of tribal Chioukhs and local population."

The main purpose of the Andean Parliament is to constantly seek peace and stability and to encourage dialogue to contribute to the resolution of conflicts, he said, recalling in this context a mission to Colombia to convince the guerrillas of the importance of finding a way out to bring back security and stability to this country.

In Morocco, he said, "I have become convinced of the absence of any conflict and of the attachment of the Saharawi population to the territorial integrity of their homeland."

"There is not the slightest doubt about the attachment of all citizens to the Moroccanness of their Sahara," he stressed.

He explained that some parties are struggling to ensure that this dispute is dragging on to benefit from it, to the detriment of the suffering of children, women and thousands of victims in the Tindouf camps.

He also reiterated the continued support of the Andean Parliament for the Moroccan stance on the Sahara issue, which is in accordance with international law and the decisions of the UN Security Council, noting that Morocco's autonomy plan is "the only initiative that can bring peace."

"This is why we strongly support, at the Andean Parliament, the efforts of Morocco and support this initiative which represents a realistic solution to put an end to this artificial conflict", he said.

A delegation of the Andean Parliament is on a visit to the Kingdom at the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Advisors (upper house), Hakim Benchamach, as part of the good relations between the two legislative institutions.

Created on October 25, 1979 in La Paz (Bolivia), the Andean Parliament brings together MPs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

MAP 07 July 2018

The Andean Parliament Backs Morocco's Efforts to Resolve the Sahara Issue

The Andean Parliament Backs Morocco's Efforts to Resolve the Sahara Issue

The parliament of the Andean countries reiterates its support for Morocco's efforts to find a solution to the artificial dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, said, Thursday in Rabat, speaker of the Andean Parliament (Parlandino), Fernando Meza Moncada, describing as "very positive" the Moroccan autonomy initiative.

The Andean parliament backs the territorial integrity of Morocco and believes that "the ideology of Morocco's enemies regarding the Sahara issue is obsolete," Meza Moncada told MAP following his talks with secretary general of the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed Ali Lazrak.

This ideology, which belongs to a certain period of the Cold War, "only complicates" the search for a solution to the dispute over the Sahara, he stressed.

In this regard, Meza Moncada described as "very positive" the Moroccan autonomy initiative, which enjoys the support of the international community and the Andean parliament.

He added that his visit to Morocco is an opportunity to consolidate relations between the member States of the Andean parliament and the observer countries, stressing that Morocco is the most important observer country of this legislative institution.

The visit will strengthen the political and economic ties between the two parties and enable them to meet together the challenges internationally, said the Andean official.

MAP 06 July 2018