The UK government has endorsed Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, noting that it is the most feasible basis to resolve the conflict between the two former Spanish colonies.
Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, said on Sunday that the autonomy plan submitted by Morocco in 2007 stands “as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute.”
“The UK will continue to act bilaterally, including economically, regionally and internationally in line with this position to support the resolution of the conflict.”
The position places Britain as the third permanent U.N. Security Council member to endorse Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, following the United States and France.
The long-frozen conflict pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario front, which seeks an independent state in the desert territory.
Morocco’s foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, hailed the UK’s position as historic, saying it was part of “a momentum to speed up the solution of the conflict.”
