The traditional verbal sparring between Morocco and Algeria resurfaced on Monday during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. After the intervention of Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Omar Hilale, took the floor to «provide some clarifications and, above all, to set the record straight». Earlier, the Algerian diplomat had raised the Sahara issue, noting that it has been under UN consideration for «more than six decades», without mentioning who first initiated the process. «It was Morocco which put the Sahara issue on the decolonization list», countered Omar Hilale. He recalled that Tangier hosted the first session of the UN's Special Committee on Decolonization (C24) held outside UN headquarters in May 1962, well before Algeria's independence on July 5 of that year and the creation of the Polisario Front in Libya in 1972. That meeting was followed by the inclusion, at Morocco's request, of «Spanish Sahara» and Sidi Ifni on the C24 agenda. Hilale also reminded his Algerian counterpart that the Security Council examines the Sahara issue «not as a decolonization matter, but as an issue of peace and security». Responding to the many questions posed by Ahmed Attaf, the Moroccan ambassador asked: «On what grounds does Algeria, which claims not to be a party, pose questions, conditions, and principles for resolving this dispute?» With a touch of irony, Hilale welcomed Algeria's declaration, expressing hope that it would translate into Algeria's active participation in roundtable discussions and the revival of the political process as a stakeholder. He concluded by recalling King Mohammed VI's outstretched hand to Algeria in his Throne Day speech on July 29. The monarch emphasized that «these positions, favorable to rightful claims and legitimacy, inspire us with honor and pride. They further encourage us to seek a consensual solution that preserves the dignity of all parties, with no winner or loser». Algeria has yet to officially respond to the royal offer.
