February 22, 2002, 11:15
Morocco has accused neighbouring Algeria, of pushing a plan to carve up the disputed Western Sahara and has warned that the move could destabilise the region and lead to a new African conflict.
A government statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting said Morocco rejected the partition, one of four options put forward by the United Nations (UN) to end the 11-year dispute over the phosphate-rich territory's future status.
Mohamed Achaari, Communication Minister, said: "Algeria's proposal sows the seeds of instability in the area ... and represents a source for new conflicts and a dangerous precedent for war-torn Africa."
Mohamed Bennouna, Morocco's ambassador to the UN, has also criticised the idea of partition, one of four options floated by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, and his special envoy and James Baker, former US Secretary of State.
The idea of the partition had been put forward by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian President, on behalf of "the separatists," Bennouna said, referring to the Algiers-backed Polisario Front seeking independence for the desert territory that may have offshore oil deposits.
Algeria's UN ambassador, Abdallah Baali, later said of the partition option that his country "remained open to examining any proposed political solution that would fully take into account the legitimate national interests of the Saharawi people."
Baali made the comment in a letter to Annan, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters in New York.
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Rabat has given Baker a green light to negotiate on the basis of an alternative plan that would make the territory apart of Morocco but with substantial autonomy.
According to Bennouna, the partition proposal is aimed at creating "a micro-state which will be under the protection of Algeria." He added that Algeria "covets access to the Atlantic Ocean."
Morocco occupied sparsely populated Western Sahara after Spain, the former colonial power, withdrew in 1975. Some 200 000 Saharawi fled into exile, many of them still in camps in Algeria, while the Polisario fought a guerrilla war which ended in a 1991 cease-fire.
Annan, frustrated by the lack of progress in resolving the dispute, outlined the four options in a report to the Security Council on Tuesday. These included the Security Council imposing terms for the referendum in Western Sahara, imposing a plan to make the territory a semi-autonomous part of Morocco or exploring the feasibility of partitioning the region. A final option was to acknowledge that the world body could not solve the problem and end its peacekeeping mission.
Achaari said Rabat wanted the Security Council to remain involved in resolving the dispute and was "determined to fully help and cooper ate in whatever way it can." - Reuters
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