WESTERN SAHARA INFORMALS AND FRUSTRATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000693

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/MAG AND IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2019
TAGS: PREL PBTS UNSC AG MR WI MO
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA INFORMALS AND FRUSTRATIONS

REF: ALGIERS 0729 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1
.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Charge and A/PolCouns met August 13 with
Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MFA)
Director General for Multilateral Affairs Ambassador Nasser
Bourita, who had just returned from Vienna where he
participated in the August 10 and 11 informal talks on the
Western Sahara held under the auspices of UNSYG Personal
Envoy Ambassador Christopher Ross. Bourita was forthcoming
and reflective in describing the atmospherics, participants
and positions. He thought the atmospherics were positive,
and he was of praise for Ross. Especially interesting was
his discussion of the topics laid out by Ross, the role of
referenda historically in resolving conflicts like the
Western Sahara issue, and human rights as raised by the
POLISARIO participants and addressed by Ross. End Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador Bourita began by enumerating five issues
identified by the UNSYG Personal Envoy to focus the two-day
discussions: 1) the vision for the future of the Maghreb
region over the next 20 years; 2) the future of the Sahrawi
people; 3) the role of neighboring countries in resolving the
dispute; 4) the role and importance of confidence building
measures (CBMs); and 5) the importance of identifying
principles for resolving the conflict.


3. (C) Bourita thought the topics were well conceived and
appropriate, and in his estimation the less formal structure
of the talks should have been conducive to some substantive
discussion of these important issues. He praised the format
and the organization of the meetings, but he pointed to a
lack of flexibility on the part of the POLISARIO as an
obstacle to real progress. According to Bourita, the
POLISARIO delegation came with what he described as two
preconditions: that there be a referendum that includes
various options; and that independence be among them.


4. (C) Despite its inflexibility, the POLISARIO delegation
participated while Algeria and Mauritania only attended the
opening and the meals. Describing the Algerian delegation as
&there for a holiday,8 Bourita compared Algeria,s presence
in Vienna to similar behavior in New York. He opined that
the Minister-Delegate for Foreign Affairs and his team
considered themselves &only observers,8 adding that for
Morocco, alternatively, they must be part of the solution.
For Bourita, Mauritania was more amenable to discussion but
felt constrained by Algeria. Bourita lamented that the talks
could have been better; as it turned out, he called them very
nearly "bilateral," between the Moroccan delegation and
Ambassador Ross.


5. (C) Bourita highlighted Ross,s comments in response to
POLISARIO insistence on a referendum to resolve the issue,
relating how Ross asserted that it was not United Nations' or
international practice to hold a referendum to resolve such
disputes. In fact, apparently in only four of 20 similar
cases have disputes been resolved through referenda; Bourita
did not name the others cited by Ross, however.


6. (C) Bourita also praised Ross,s handling of the human
rights issue when raised by the POLISARIO, relating how the
UNSYG Personal Envoy countered with pointed questions when
the POLISARIO delegation raised human rights in Western
Sahara, asking why there had been no mention of the issue
prior to 2007 if, in fact, alleged abuses had been taking
place since 1975. Apparently, Ross also criticized the
POLISARIO for grandstanding about human rights rather than
working to address individual cases.


7. (C) The MFA Director General for Multilateral Affairs
reiterated that the Moroccan delegation did not travel to
Vienna to impose a solution but to present ideas, especially
given that UN efforts since 1991, and fighting before that,
had borne no fruit. He described the POLISARIO as part of
the solution, with a leading role to play in the
implementation of the autonomy plan, and he stressed that the
Moroccan proposal was not designed to defeat the POLISARIO.
He even intimated that the POLISARIO could be compensated for
playing a constructive role, if it so chose, by taking credit
for pushing Morocco to promote the autonomy plan. The
Moroccan delegation was not in Vienna, he said, to revisit
the past, but to look ahead. However, Algeria and the
POLISARIO were not ready to move, concluded Bourita.

8. (U) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Taieb
Fassi Fihri, who headed the Moroccan delegation, told the
media that the Vienna informals afforded an opportunity &to
recall the purpose and philosophy of the Moroccan autonomy
initiative.8 He deplored other parties, clinging to old
visions and mechanisms. However, he also said that as a
result of the informals, Morocco was ready to resume
negotiations.


9. (C) Comment: Unsurprisingly, Ambassador Bourita echoed
many of the Minister,s themes as he spoke at length, at
times animatedly, about the Vienna talks. Despite the
relaxed format, substance and well organized approach, both
Fassi Fihri and Bourita made it clear that they felt the
POLISARIO and Algeria were not earnest interlocutors. At the
same time, neither gave any indication that Morocco was
willing to reconsider the proposed autonomy plan as the basis
for negotiation. With Morocco unlikely to reverse its
position and accept a referendum that includes independence
as an option, it may be necessary for us to urge Algeria and
the POLISARIO to negotiate more seriously when the talks move
back to Manhasset. End comment.


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Jackson