Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MADRID340
2007-02-23 12:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Madrid
Cable title:  

INFORMING SPAIN ON THE WESTERN SAHARA

Tags:  PREL PGOV PBTS SP UNSC WI 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHLA
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231245Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1934
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 3912
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0837
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 1126
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1236
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 5989
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2470
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 1531
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0310
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000340 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG FOR ROBERT EWING
EUR/WE FOR GARY CLEMENTS AND ANGELA CERVETTI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS SP UNSC WI
SUBJECT: INFORMING SPAIN ON THE WESTERN SAHARA

REF: STATE 20297

Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000340

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG FOR ROBERT EWING
EUR/WE FOR GARY CLEMENTS AND ANGELA CERVETTI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS SP UNSC WI
SUBJECT: INFORMING SPAIN ON THE WESTERN SAHARA

REF: STATE 20297

Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Poloff met with MFA Subdirector General
for North Africa Manuel Gomez-Acebo on February 21 to discuss
recent developments on the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western
Sahara. Gomez-Acebo noted that he recently had spoken with
NEA DAS Gordon Gray about the visit to Washington of a
high-level Moroccan delegation and said that Spain was
pleased to hear the U.S. emphasis on the need to address the
principle of self-determination. He said that Foreign
Minister Moratinos also received a high-level Moroccan
delegation on February 8, which delivered much the same
message. Moratinos plans to meet with Polisario "FM" Mohamed
Uld Salek in early to mid-March. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Poloff met with MFA Subdirector General for North
Africa Manuel Gomez-Acebo on February 21 to discuss recent
developments on the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara
(reftel). Gomez-Acebo, who visited Washington for
consultations in early February, told Poloff that he had
spoken with NEA DAS Gordon Gray about the visit of a
delegation led by the Moroccan Minister of Interior to
Washington. A similar delegation, also led by Interior
Minister Benmoussa, met with Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos, National Security Advisor Carles Casajuana, and
Director General for the Mideast, Mediterranean and Africa
Alvaro Iranzo in Madrid on February 8 and conveyed basically
the same message. The Moroccan delegation also paid a brief
courtesy call on President Zapatero.

//SIMILAR MOROCCAN MESSAGE//


3. (C) The Moroccan delegation underscored to Moratinos
that an intensive process is taking place in Morocco in order
to achieve a successful solution that will respect the
territorial sovereignty of Morocco, address the specific
concerns of the Sahrawi people, and conform with
international norms of autonomy. They mentioned Spanish and
German models of autonomy but did not get into specific

similarities. The delegation said that the plan would
reserve the classic governmental competencies for Morocco,
including customs, security and defense, etc. while the
Sahrawi would be able to create a local police, some form of
local taxation, an elected local Parliament, and would
control social and cultural affairs and some form of local
judiciary. Economically, the Sahrawi would also control
agriculture and could share revenue from natural resources.
Morocco is also preoccupied with assuring that there is
sufficient and proportional representation of all of the
tribes resident in Western Sahara, not just the refugees.
The Moroccans said that the plan would include some form of
consultation with the population and used the word
"referendum" but did not clarify whether this would be a
national referendum or a referendum exclusively among the
inhabitants of Western Sahara. Lastly, the Moroccans made
clear that this autonomy plan would be a one-off event
applicable only as an exceptional case in the Western Sahara.
Morocco would not alter its Constitution.


4. (C) Gomez-Acebo noted that the plan had no doubt evolved
between the meeting in Madrid and the Washington meeting. He
said that Moratinos had urged the Moroccans to be as generous
as possible with sharing the actual content of the plan prior
to its publication. According to Gomez-Acebo, the Moroccans
did not tell the Spanish when the plan would be released nor
in what manner. Moratinos stressed that the presentation of
the plan should be done in a spirit of negotiation, not as a
take it or leave it proposition.


5. (C) Moratinos also told the Moroccan delegation that
dialogue with the Polisario is necessary prior to the plan's
release. He said that a climate of dialogue must already
exist prior to the plan's presentation in the Security
Council or it will fail. Moratinos plans to meet with
Polisario foreign affairs representative Mohamed Uld Salek in
early to mid-March to urge PF consideration of autonomy.

//MOROCCO'S COMING OUT?//


6. (C) The Moroccan delegation also took the opportunity to

MADRID 00000340 002 OF 002


discuss Morocco's ongoing social and economic reforms,
including actions to revise the Family Code and address
women's issues. They told Moratinos that Morocco is also
taking steps to combat corruption and has instituted a truth
commission to document human rights abuses prior to 1999.
The delegation said that Morocco is strongly committed to the
goals laid out in the Barcelona Process, such as the
principle of the Mediterranean neighborhood and the adoption
of EU democratic and economic norms. The Moroccan delegation
said that resolving the Western Sahara question would
constitute a high point in this effort.

//CT IN THE MAGHREB AND THE SAHEL//


7. (C) Gomez-Acebo said the Moroccans also expressed
concern about the apparent new level of cooperation with Al
Qa'ida among various groups of North African extremists,
under the auspices of the Algerian GSPC terrorist group. The
Moroccans were preoccupied with resolving this question, but
Gomez-Acebo noted that they did not make the usual gesture of
attributing the problem to the Algerians, signaling a
recognition that the problem is now more regional in nature.

//POST-MEETING SPIN BY MORATINOS//


8. (C) Moratinos told the delegation that he would not be
able to make a completely positive statement in the press
because the Moroccans had still not sufficiently addressed
the principle of self-determination. He emphasized that any
plan must be acceptable to both the Polisario and the UN in
order to have any chance at success. After the meeting,
Moratinos' told the press that both he and President Zapatero
had underscored the need to "address the principle of
self-determination." Moratinos said that Spain delivered two
messages to Morocco: "the active commitment of Spain to work
to overcome the deadlock in which the Western Sahara finds
itself," and "the importance for the Moroccan proposals to
instill a dynamic of dialogue among the parties within the
context of the United Nations, on the road to finding a
definitive political solution that is durable, mutually
acceptable, and which addresses the principle of
self-determination." Gomez-Acebo said the U.S. emphasis on
addressing self-determination would be well-received in
Madrid.

//BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH MOROCCO AND ALGERIA//


9. (C) Gomez-Acebo noted with pleasure that the dates for
the visit of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia to Algeria have
been confirmed for March 13-15. He said the media criticism
surrounding the inability to finalize dates was uninformed
speculation, as the Algerians had gone to great lengths to
secure the visit. Gomez-Acebo's office is extremely busy at
present with the royal visit as well as the Morocco-Spain
bilateral summit set for early March. The royal visit to
Algiers provides a nice counter-balance for the Morocco
meeting, as Algeria has been critical of Spanish attention to
Rabat on the Western Sahara.


10. (C) Poloff asked Gomez-Acebo how Spain is managing the
balancing act of maintaining good relations with these two
feuding yet essential neighbors. Gomez-Acebo said that it
takes hard work and consistent emphasis on increasing common
ground and economic ties with both nations to the point where
the Western Sahara is merely an aspect of the bilateral
relationship, not the focal point. He noted that Spain has
the advantage of not having been the dominant colonial power
in either Algeria or Morocco, adding that France has clearly
cast its lot with Morocco on this issue. "Walking a
tightrope is not necessary if there is an increasingly stable
base," he said, "We do not want to have to choose with whom
we will dance."

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