President Ghali warns of the consequences of Spain’s intention to transfer management of Sahrawi airspace to the Moroccan occupying state

Sahrawi President Ibrahim Ghali warned of what was reported in the Spanish media regarding the offer made by the Spanish Prime Minister during his recent visit to Rabat regarding the transfer of management of the airspace of Western Sahara to the Moroccan occupying state.

This came in a letter sent yesterday, Monday, by President Ghali to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, reported by the Sahrawi Press Agency (Os), in which he warned that if “the Spanish government’s intention to transfer the management of the airspace of Western Sahara to the Moroccan occupying state is confirmed,” This would constitute a violation of the international status of the territory as a territory included in the United Nations list awaiting decolonization, as well as of Spain’s international obligations as the administering state of Western Sahara.”

In the face of this situation, the President of the Sahrawi Republic renewed the Polisario Front’s call on the United Nations and its relevant bodies to ensure full respect for the status of Western Sahara as a territory subject to the decolonization process and subject to the responsibility of the United Nations, whose Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is located in the territory. He also renewed the Sahrawi party’s call on Spain to assume its international, legal and moral responsibilities towards Western Sahara and its people until the decolonization of the region is completed.

Spain, as the administering Power of Western Sahara, “cannot take any action or conclude any agreement of any kind in relation to Western Sahara with Morocco, the occupying power in the territory in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 34/37 of 21 November 1979 and 35/19.” of November 11, 1980, among other decisions. Also, any action or agreement of this kind will be null and void and illegal under international law,” according to the content of the letter.

The Sahrawi President also warned that this step would also further “destabilize the ongoing efforts made by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to revive the stalled United Nations peace process in Western Sahara, which is undergoing serious developments due to the violation of the State The Moroccan occupation and its demolition of the 1991 ceasefire on November 13, 2020.”

President Ghali stated that “for decades, and as shown in the relevant maps of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the airspace of Western Sahara remains under the management of Spanish air traffic controllers in the Canary Islands, which is consistent with the international responsibility of Spain as the State administering the territory in accordance with UN resolutions.” United States and its legal opinions.

In this context, he referred to the confirmation of the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations for Legal Affairs, Legal Counsel, in his legal opinion issued on January 29, 2002 at the request of the Security Council, that “the Madrid Agreement did not transfer sovereignty over the territory, nor did it grant any of the signatories the status of administering state.” “This is a situation that Spain alone could not have achieved unilaterally.”

Moreover, the letter adds, the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish National Supreme Court, headed by the current Spanish Minister of the Interior, ruled on July 4, 2014 that “Spain, de jure, if not de facto, remains the administering State of the Territory (Western Sahara), and as such Until the process of decolonization is completed, it shall bear the obligations stipulated in Articles 73 and 74 of the United Nations Charter.”

The Sahrawi President, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, also recalled the ruling of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued on September 22, 2022, which confirmed that Morocco’s continued occupation of the Sahrawi Republic conflicts with the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, as well as the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued on December 21. 2016, which affirmed that Western Sahara enjoyed a “separate and distinct status” under the principle of self-determination relative to any other country, including Morocco.

Regarding Spain’s international responsibility towards Western Sahara, Mr. Ghali referred to several resolutions issued by the United Nations General Assembly, including Resolution 78/81 of December 7, 2023, in which the General Assembly reaffirmed that in the absence of a resolution from the General Assembly itself stipulating completion of the decolonization of a territory registered with it under Chapter

Since the General Assembly has never adopted any resolution to this effect in the case of the Territory of Western Sahara subject to the process of decolonization, for the United Nations Spain remains the administering Power of Western Sahara, with all the responsibilities that this situation entails in terms of the “sacred duty” of Spain towards the Territory. , including the commitment to preserve its territorial integrity until the people of Western Sahara exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, adds the text of the letter.