Bahréin: apoyo total a Marruecos sobre la autonomía del Sáhara Occidental
Bahrain affirmed that it renews its support for the serious efforts made by Morocco to find a political solution to the Western Sahara issue, based on the autonomy initiative, within the scope of the integrity and territorial sovereignty of the Alawi kingdom.
"The Kingdom of Bahrain reiterates its constant and united position with the Kingdom of Morocco in preserving its security and territorial integrity", the Bahraini representative stressed to the members of the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly. The Bahraini delegation expressed its support for the political process carried out under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while embracing Security Council resolution 2602 on the Moroccan Sahara, agreed in October 2021.
Antonio Guterres, in his 2022 document, the harshest of all against the Polisario Front, does not take kindly to the separatist militias whom he accuses of endangering the work of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
In an interview with the Spanish-language Moroccan website Marruecom, José Bono, former President of the Spanish Congress of Deputies (2008-2011) and former Spanish Minister of Defence (2002-2006) in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, explained that he, during his long political experience, never accepted the dictatorship of one-party thinking. That is why he considers that "the creation of the Movement Saharawi for Peace (MSP) breaks with the single representation of the Saharawis".
It is in this sense that José Bono claims to have applauded his country's decision to support the Moroccan position. "The decision taken by the government of Pedro Sánchez is very important. In my opinion, it is the most logical and sensible one that has been taken since Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid in 1975 and returned the Sahara... Our two countries need each other because Morocco depends as much on Spain as Spain depends on Morocco," he concluded.
The mission of Staffan de Mistura, personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara dossier is to succeed in relaunching the dialogue through round tables bringing together all the main parties to the conflict, in particular Morocco and Algeria. A difficult mission, since Algeria refuses to participate and does not intend to be a party, even though it is the instigator of this conflict, which it has been fuelling for 50 years. The initiative presented by Morocco is in line with international law, the UN Charter and resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, noting that this plan has been acclaimed in Security Council resolutions since 2007.
With Bahrain's ratification of Morocco's support for Saharan autonomy, it joins a growing list that has recently been joined by countries such as Guatemala and Saudi Arabia. Along with Bahrain, the Saudi kingdom also reaffirmed in New York its support for the autonomy initiative in the Moroccan Sahara within the framework of the Kingdom's sovereignty and territorial integrity. This position was reiterated by the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Alwasil, before the members of the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly.
The Alawi kingdom receives strong international backing for its formula for resolving the Saharawi conflict. This strong diplomatic support reached a key moment when Donald Trump's last US administration recognised Morocco's power over the Sahara in December 2020, something that was reaffirmed by Joe Biden's government.
