"Morocco's project to grant substantial autonomy to its southern provinces by allowing the local population to run their own affairs remains the one and only solution to reach a permanent settlement to the artificial Sahara conflict," Hutchinson said in a meeting with a visiting delegation of MPs from the southern provinces.
The Sahara issue has lasted for over thirty years, he said, adding that "it was Morocco which put on the table a proposal for a large autonomy offering a better future" to the Saharans.
The Belgian MP deemed this solution "realistic and credible", saying that it is largely endorsed by many countries, while other settlement attempts have so far proved to be unproductive.
In this regard, he underlined the need for a "prompt and permanent" settlement of this issue, in view of threats facing the region of the Maghreb and Europe, notably terrorism and illegal immigration.
Touching on the situation in the Maghreb region, a regional grouping mustering, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, Hutchinson said that "if we travel across the Maghreb region, only Morocco looks like an emerging country both at the economic and the democratic levels."
The Moroccan delegation, led by former founding member of the "polisario" Ahmedou Ould Souilem, is on a visit to Brussels on February 2-5 to meet Belgian and European deputies.
Source :MAP
- Events concerning Western Sahara issue