Peace Keeping: Morocco Stresses Primacy of UN Security Council

Morocco reiterated its stand in favor of giving the primacy to the UN Security Council in matters relating to peace keeping and conflict prevention at an African union reform summit.

Morocco made it clear that the UN charter as well as the AU’s peace and security committee clearly state that the UN Security Council is the body in charge of conflict resolution and management, said Morocco’s ambassador Mohammed Arrouchi at the 11th African Union (AU) extraordinary summit.

By the past, Morocco has repeatedly criticized that the Peace and Security Committee has often been manipulated by Algeria to serve the separatist cause in the Moroccan Sahara.

Since its return to the African Union in December 2017, Morocco has been coordinating sands with African democratic and friendly states such as Rwanda to push for a reform of the AU’s institutions in a way that is conducive to addressing the challenges facing the continent.

Morocco has indeed been reaping the benefits of its return to its African institutional family, which has been gradually remedying its past biases in the Sahara issue by affirming that the UN is the sole body that can lead talks for a solution, while calling on Algeria and Mauritania to contribute to find a lasting settlement to the regional dispute.

Last July, Chairperson of AU’s commission Moussa Faki Mahamat issued a report stressing the preeminence of Morocco’s autonomy initiative as a solution to the four-decade conflict.

The report highlights the need for the African Union to adopt a stance that backs the efforts led by the UN. This means AU has to give up its parallel processes on the issue.

Recommendation 12N of the report highlights that the role of the AU is to support UN efforts and the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy.

The terminology used by the Chairperson of the AU Commission in referring to the Sahara conflict stands in stark contrast to the subjective way the Sahara issue was tackled by his South African Predecessor Dlamini Zuma, who turned the AU into an enemy of Morocco’s territorial integrity.

Morocco’s election to the Peace and Security Council further strengthens the Kingdom’s stance at the Continental organization. The Council is the supreme decision making body on peace and security issues and has been chaired by Algeria since its creation.