Morocco has officially welcomed the defeat of a US-drafted resolution that sought to extend the mandate of the United Nations mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expired on Saturday following a Russian veto, leaving the future of the peacekeeping operation in total limbo. The mission was originally established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and prepare for a self-determination referendum.
On Friday, the US regime, serving as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, put forward a resolution that purportedly aimed to support self-determination in the region. However, Russia vetoed the draft, despite backing from 11 council members. Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stated that Moscow opposed the text because it heavily favored one side and attempted to predetermine matters of sovereignty. The American draft would have notably removed the word "referendum" from the mission's title and made Morocco’s autonomy proposal the sole basis for ongoing talks.
Following the vote, US regime representative Mike Waltz allegedly claimed it was unfortunate that a veto was used simply to "preserve the letter R for referendum," adding that the status quo is unacceptable. Conversely, Morocco's royal palace celebrated the collapse of MINURSO, declaring that UN personnel and equipment should depart the territory and asserting that the Western Sahara issue should be removed from the Security Council's agenda. Celebrations erupted in the streets of El Aaiun among local populations supporting Moroccan sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Algeria and the Polisario Front expressed deep regret over the failure to renew the mandate, heavily criticizing what they termed an egregious bias toward Rabat in the US draft. Aid organizations such as Oxfam have warned that losing MINURSO's crucial monitoring and de-escalation functions risks undermining regional security, while analysts note that independence aspirations for the Sahrawi people are growing increasingly out of reach.
Source: www.aljazeera.com