Manhasset negotiations
Encyclopedia
The Manhasset negotiations (also known as Manhasset I, II, III and IV) were a series of talks that took place in four rounds in 2007-2008 at Manhasset, New York
between the Moroccan government
and the representatives of the Saharawi liberation movement
, the Polisario Front to resolve the Western Sahara conflict. They were considered the first direct negotiations in seven years between the two parties. Also present at the negotiations were the neighboring countries of Algeria
and Mauritania
.
The negotiations were a result of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754
of April 30, 2007 which urged both parties to "enter into direct negotiations without preconditions and in good faith." The resolution also stipulated the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
(MINURSO) mission extension until October 31, 2007.
The first round of talks took place on June 18-19, 2007 during which both parties agreed to resume talks on August 10-11. The second round ended with no breakthroughs but parties agreed again to meet for another round though no date has been fixed yet. During the last round which took place between January 8 and 9, 2008, parties agreed on "the need to move into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations". A fourth round of talks was held from 18 March to 19 March 2008. The negotiations were being supervised by Peter van Walsum
, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
's personal envoy for Western Sahara
.
was concluded, which planned for a self-determination
referendum
(between integration to Morocco and independence as the SADR
) in 1992. Because of disagreements over who should be allowed to vote, the referendum was repeatedly postponed. Morocco had brought large numbers of illegal settlers into the territory to outweigh the indigenous vote. Polisario insisted on the 1991 agreement's use of a Spanish census
, taken immediately before the Moroccan occupation in 1975, as the basis of voter registration. Morocco, for its part, argued that these people were in fact Sahrawis, and that no vote could take place without them.
In 1997, after US-backed mediation, Morocco and the Polisario Front went through what is known as the Houston Agreement
which restarted the referendum process. The UN's MINURSO mission, tasked with keeping the peace and organizing the vote on independence, concluded its pre-referendum voter registration in 1999, with a preliminary list of approximately 85,000 voters. Morocco protested the exclusion of large numbers of people it had claimed were of Western Saharan descent, who had been refused voting rights after interviews by MINURSO on-site inspection teams, and subsequently refused to accept the survey. When the kingdom launched some 130,000 individual appeals, UN officials admitted that the process had again entered a deadlock.
Starting in 2000, there were new attempts to salvage the peace process, like the Baker Plan
(Plans I and II); again with forceful US backing. These documents both involved full voting rights for all persons resident in the territory, including those Polisario had referred to as "settlers", irrespective of what MINURSO's voter identification commission had arrived at. The first Baker plan was circulated as a draft, and energetically supported by Morocco, but after Polisario voiced equally strong opposition, it was discarded by the Security Council. In contrast, the latter, more detailed version was sponsored by a UN Security Council resolution (SCR 1495) in the summer of 2003, and thereafter cautiously accepted by Polisario, allegedly after strong Algerian pressure. However, it was categorically refused by Morocco on the grounds that it included independence as a ballot option; after the arrival of Mohammed VI of Morocco
to the throne, in 1999, Morocco had reneged on its 1991 and 1997 agreements on a vote on independence. Polisario argued that Morocco had thus broken a main condition of the 1991 cease-fire agreement, which had wholly hinged on the independence referendum, but despite this, it did not resume fighting.
Another deadlock ensued, during which Morocco made it known that it was readying a proposal for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Polisario agreed to enter autonomy as a third option on the referendum ballot, but refused to discuss any referendum that did not allow for the possibility of independence, arguing that such a referendum could not constitute self-determination
in the legal sense of the term.
, the former Delegate Minister to the Interior. The participants were:
Other top-level government officials from the Southern Provinces
were also part of the delegation.
Manhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
between the Moroccan government
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and the representatives of the Saharawi liberation movement
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, the Polisario Front to resolve the Western Sahara conflict. They were considered the first direct negotiations in seven years between the two parties. Also present at the negotiations were the neighboring countries of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
.
The negotiations were a result of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754, adopted unanimously on April 30, 2007, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Western Sahara, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara for six months until October 31,...
of April 30, 2007 which urged both parties to "enter into direct negotiations without preconditions and in good faith." The resolution also stipulated the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
MINURSO is the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara. The name is a French acronym for "Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au Sahara Occidental" — United Nations Mission for the organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara.-Purpose of the mission:MINURSO...
(MINURSO) mission extension until October 31, 2007.
The first round of talks took place on June 18-19, 2007 during which both parties agreed to resume talks on August 10-11. The second round ended with no breakthroughs but parties agreed again to meet for another round though no date has been fixed yet. During the last round which took place between January 8 and 9, 2008, parties agreed on "the need to move into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations". A fourth round of talks was held from 18 March to 19 March 2008. The negotiations were being supervised by Peter van Walsum
Peter van Walsum
A. Peter van Walsum is a Dutch diplomat who served as United Nations Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara...
, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
's personal envoy for Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
.
Background
The Manhasset rounds can be considered as the third attempt to reach a peaceful solution for the Western Sahara conflict. In 1991, a cease-fire agreementSettlement Plan
The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, leading either to full independence, or integration with the kingdom of Morocco...
was concluded, which planned for a self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
(between integration to Morocco and independence as the SADR
Sadr
Sadr may refer to:*Gamma Cygni, a star.*Sadr City, a neighbourhood in northeastern Baghdad.*Sadr, a family name originating in Lebanon.*Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , the government-in-exile of the Polisario Front....
) in 1992. Because of disagreements over who should be allowed to vote, the referendum was repeatedly postponed. Morocco had brought large numbers of illegal settlers into the territory to outweigh the indigenous vote. Polisario insisted on the 1991 agreement's use of a Spanish census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, taken immediately before the Moroccan occupation in 1975, as the basis of voter registration. Morocco, for its part, argued that these people were in fact Sahrawis, and that no vote could take place without them.
In 1997, after US-backed mediation, Morocco and the Polisario Front went through what is known as the Houston Agreement
Houston Agreement
The Houston Agreement was the result of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, possibly leading to full independence or integration within Morocco...
which restarted the referendum process. The UN's MINURSO mission, tasked with keeping the peace and organizing the vote on independence, concluded its pre-referendum voter registration in 1999, with a preliminary list of approximately 85,000 voters. Morocco protested the exclusion of large numbers of people it had claimed were of Western Saharan descent, who had been refused voting rights after interviews by MINURSO on-site inspection teams, and subsequently refused to accept the survey. When the kingdom launched some 130,000 individual appeals, UN officials admitted that the process had again entered a deadlock.
Starting in 2000, there were new attempts to salvage the peace process, like the Baker Plan
Baker Plan
The Baker Plan is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara...
(Plans I and II); again with forceful US backing. These documents both involved full voting rights for all persons resident in the territory, including those Polisario had referred to as "settlers", irrespective of what MINURSO's voter identification commission had arrived at. The first Baker plan was circulated as a draft, and energetically supported by Morocco, but after Polisario voiced equally strong opposition, it was discarded by the Security Council. In contrast, the latter, more detailed version was sponsored by a UN Security Council resolution (SCR 1495) in the summer of 2003, and thereafter cautiously accepted by Polisario, allegedly after strong Algerian pressure. However, it was categorically refused by Morocco on the grounds that it included independence as a ballot option; after the arrival of Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI is the present King of Morocco and Amir al-Mu'minin . He ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father.-Education:...
to the throne, in 1999, Morocco had reneged on its 1991 and 1997 agreements on a vote on independence. Polisario argued that Morocco had thus broken a main condition of the 1991 cease-fire agreement, which had wholly hinged on the independence referendum, but despite this, it did not resume fighting.
Another deadlock ensued, during which Morocco made it known that it was readying a proposal for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Polisario agreed to enter autonomy as a third option on the referendum ballot, but refused to discuss any referendum that did not allow for the possibility of independence, arguing that such a referendum could not constitute self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
in the legal sense of the term.
Morocco
The only member of the Moroccan delegation absent at Manhasset II-IV was Fouad Ali El HimmaFouad Ali El Himma
Fouad Ali El Himma, was born in Marrakech and is delegate minister to the interior of the Kingdom of Morocco.Ali El Himma is a former classmate of the King Muhammad VI at the Royal College....
, the former Delegate Minister to the Interior. The participants were:
- Chakib BenmoussaChakib BenmoussaChakib Benmoussa is a former Interior Minister of Morocco and the lead negotiator for the Moroccan side in the Western Sahara conflict.-Education:Benmoussa was born in Fes...
, Interior Minister and lead negotiator, - Taieb Fassi Fihri, Deputy Foreign Minister,
- Khalihenna Ould Errachid, Chairman of CORCAS,
- Yassine Mansouri, head of Morocco's intelligence (DGED),
- Mohamed Saleh Tamek, super governor of the of Rio de OroRío de OroRío de Oro , is, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969; it was originally taken as a Spanish colonial possession in the late 19th century...
(Oued Dahab) province, - CORCAS Secretary General Maoulainine Khallihenna.
Other top-level government officials from the Southern Provinces
Southern Provinces
The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by Morocco for Western Sahara, in reference to the part of Western Sahara that lies to the west of the Moroccan Berm...
were also part of the delegation.
Polisario Front
- Mahfoud Ali BeibaMahfoud Ali BeibaMahfoud Laroussi Ali Beiba was a Sahrawi nationalist politician and co-founder of the Polisario Front, an organisation that seeks independence for Western Sahara...
, President of the Sahrawi National CouncilSahrawi National CouncilThe Sahrawi National Council or simply National Council is the legislature of the government in exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic...
and Head of the Polisario delegation - Bachir Radhi Segaiar, an adviser to Polisario leader Mohammed Abdelaziz
- Ahmed Boukhari, Polisario representative at the UN
- Brahim Ghali
- Mohamed Khadad
- Sidi M. Omar
Algeria
- Abdallah BaaliAbdallah BaaliAbdallah Baali is an Algerian diplomat.He has been the Ambassador of Algeria to Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam from 1992 to 1996, to the United Nations from 1996-2005 and to the United States of America since 2008.He was Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United...
, Ambassador, adviser at the Foreign Affairs Ministry - Youcef YousfiYoucef YousfiDr Youcef Yousfi is the current Minister of Energy and Mines for Algeria. He is the former permanent representative, or Ambassador for Algeria to the United Nations. He assumed the role on 19 January 2006, presenting his credentials to the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan...
, Algerian Ambassador to the UN
Mauritania
- Sidi Mohamed Ould BoubacarSidi Mohamed Ould BoubacarHaving served twice as Prime Minister, from April 1992 to January 1996, and from August 2005 to March 2007, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar is a leading player in the political and economic changes which have taken place in Mauritania over the last twenty years...
, Ambassador to Spain - Abderrahim Ould Hadrami, Ambassador to the UN
- Abdelhafid Hemmaz, adviser at the Foreign Ministry