The SPM underlines the courage of the UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura

In a letter sent to the UN envoy following the report presented at a closed session of the Security Council last Wednesday, October 16, Hach Ahmed, first secretary of the Saharawi Movement for Peace (SPM), praised the courage of the mediator, Staffan De Mistura, in “setting out with crystal clarity the options before him, not only the UN, but the opposing and interested parties at the current crossroads and the risks involved”.

Hach Ahmed's letter underlines: “I sincerely believe that you are the first UN envoy to Western Sahara who in three decades of mediation and good offices has challenged the UN system and the parties to face the political and moral responsibilities incumbent upon them in such a decisive context. However - he adds - I am seriously concerned that you are setting a time limit to your mission, for an eventual withdrawal on your part will inevitably mean the death of the political process and its conversion into an eternal dispute like that of Kashmir.

After encouraging him to continue and to have patience and willpower to open a path of hope for the Saharawis, Hach Ahmed reiterates to him in his “capacity as leader of a Saharawi movement which does not have the support of any of the opposing powers, Morocco and Algeria, his conviction that the compromise solution, after five decades of war, exile and suffering is the best option for the Saharawis beyond slogans, illusions and utopias”. 

The letter adds that such a solution should be “a formula agreed upon with lights and stenographers and duly protected by international guarantees”. 

The letter ends by saying: “You can count, along with our blessings, on our willingness to collaborate and help you in your efforts. I hope to be able to express this directly to you at the first opportunity you give us”. 

Hach Ahmed

First Secretary of the Saharawi Movement for Peace (MSP)