Following its failure to defend the Polisario's positions at the Security Council, Algeria is attempting to sway internal media opinion. Its Foreign Minister claimed that the country has «thwarted«Morocco's plans, even though Algiers was unable to persuade any member to vote against the resolution. In an interview broadcast last night on the public news channel AL24 News, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf outlined his country's position on UN Security Council Resolution 2797 concerning the Sahara. The head of Algerian diplomacy expressed satisfaction that Morocco had not succeeded in ending the MINURSO mandate or «burying the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination». He added that «the Moroccan autonomy plan is no longer considered the exclusive framework for resolving the conflict». This assertion came as a surprise, especially since, in a rare moment of candor, Algeria's permanent representative to the UN had admitted on Friday that the Security Council had given no weight to the Polisario's proposal. Attaf continued in a confident tone: «The MINURSO, which Morocco wanted to dismantle or transform, has seen its mandate extended for another year». The foreign minister renewed his criticism of Morocco's 2007 autonomy proposal, declaring: «The Moroccan autonomy plan, I have it here before me, is barely four pages long, very light, with only a single paragraph of substance. This cannot be called a 'plan.' It has no real political or legal content, only statements of principle and good intentions». He went on to say that «this document was shared with the 193 member states of the United Nations, except with the primary concerned party, the Sahrawi people. None of the four personal envoys of the UN Secretary-General considered it serious enough to put on the table for discussion». Admitting Algeria's Own Shortcomings While taking pride in what he described as Morocco's «failure», Attaf also acknowledged that Algeria had not succeeded in having references to Morocco's sovereignty removed from the resolution's text. «On the eve of the vote, we requested that the mention of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara be deleted from the preamble of the resolution. Had that been done, Algeria could have voted in favor of the American plan», he admitted. However, the preamble of Resolution 2797 clearly notes the support expressed by numerous UN member states for Morocco's autonomy plan, submitted on April 11, 2007, as the basis for «a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution», emphasizing that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty remains the most realistic option. A Defensive Victory Despite this, Attaf expressed overall satisfaction with his ministry's recent diplomatic efforts at the Security Council. «We managed to thwart Morocco's attempt to restrict the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination within the sole framework of the autonomy plan. This was prevented thanks to the mobilization and vigilance of the international community», he said. However, this statement—clearly aimed at a domestic audience and meant to preserve his political standing—fails to hide the diplomatic reality: the Security Council explicitly «welcomes any constructive suggestions by the parties in response to the Autonomy Proposal», while the Polisario's own proposal went entirely unmentioned. Algeria remains directly implicated in this process and is now expected, as the UN executive body has stipulated, to «engage in these discussions without preconditions, taking as basis Morocco's Autonomy Proposal, with a view to achieving a final and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, recognizes that genuine autonomy could represent a most feasible outcome and encourages the parties to submit ideas to support a final mutually-acceptable solution».
