On the basis of irrefutable legal, political and historical facts, the chancellery underlined, in a statement to the media, the fundamentals, evidences and truths illustrating the legitimacy of the cause of the Kingdom's territorial integrity.

Deconstructing point by point the fanciful fabrications contained in a statement issued on Monday by DIRCO in response to an article published by the Moroccan News Agency (MAP) on the South African position on the issue of Moroccan Sahara during a briefing of the UN Secretariat on this issue, the embassy, from the outset, stressed the misplaced, erroneous and fallacious nature of the South African argument qualifying the Moroccan Sahara as "the last colony in Africa".

This is an allegation that is completely at odds with the reality on the ground as established over the years by the United Nations, which exclusively manages the issue of the regional conflict created from scratch over the territorial integrity of Morocco, said the embassy.

On the legal level, the embassy recalled that nearly 70 Security Council resolutions and no less than 120 reports of the various UN Secretaries General on the issue do not include any reference to Moroccan Sahara as an "occupied territory" or Morocco as an "occupying force", noting that DIRCO's allegations on this point clearly represent a political and ideological opinion devoid of any legal basis.

The embassy emphasized that the southern provinces have always been an integral part of Moroccan territory long before the colonial era. Numerous treaties signed in the 18th and 19th centuries are recalled to attest to this reality which seem to escape the amnesic minds.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), quoted in DIRCO's approximations, had stressed in an advisory opinion issued on 16 October 1975, that the Moroccan Sahara region was not at the time of the Spanish colonization in 1884 a "terra nullius", and that ties of allegiance existed between the King of Morocco and the tribes of the region.

The Moroccan embassy in Pretoria stressed, on the other hand, that the political evolution of the issue reinforces Morocco in the legitimacy of its national cause. The majority of countries in the world express their support for Morocco's efforts to settle this regional dispute, particularly through the autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty.

Those who disregard these historical, legal and political realities of the Moroccan Sahara are trying, in vain, to rewrite history through a fallacious, short-lived narrative.

As an elected member of the UN Security Council for Africa, South Africa is called upon to echo African positions, the embassy added, stressing that the blind alignment with the stances of Algeria and the polisario separatists is a fatal blow to the legitimacy of such an attitude.

In this case, the continental leadership loses its essence, impartiality and responsibility, noted the chancellery, recalling that the exclusivity of the UN process is well established by the African Union in accordance with Decision 693 of the AU Summit held in July 2018 in Nouakchott.

Referring to the inaccuracies of DIRCO's statements on the referendum exercise as an option to settle the question of Moroccan Sahara, the embassy affirmed that this option has been ruled out by the UN since 2001.

In 2000, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan concluded that this option was not feasible, while calling on the parties to work towards a political solution, the embassy said, adding that since then, the Security Council has called on the parties to reach a mutually acceptable political solution.

As a result, no Council resolution has mentioned the referendum option in the last 21 years, the embassy underlined, stressing that the UN is maintaining the momentum of this approach by calling on the parties, namely Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the polisario separatists, to continue discussions in the framework of the Geneva round table meetings with a view to reaching a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution based on compromise.

In all the resolutions adopted in this sense, the pre-eminence of the autonomy Initiative presented by Morocco is highlighted as a serious and credible plan, added the embassy.

 Regarding the Security Council briefing on the Moroccan Sahara, the embassy noted that South Africa proposed draft elements to the press that did not reflect the content of the exchanges within the Council, which was rejected by all other members of the UN body, including the two African members of the Security Council, a reality that placed South Africa in a situation of isolation, which led it to withdraw its proposal.

The Chancellery concluded that for the Moroccan people, whether the enemies of the Kingdom's territorial integrity like it or not, the Sahara issue is not only an item on the agenda of the UN Security Council, but it does indeed represent a historical injustice committed against the Moroccan people during the recovery of its territorial integrity. It is an issue intrinsically linked to the dignity and sovereignty of the Moroccan people.