Morocco will seek to remove the Western Sahara issue from the United Nations General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on Saturday, a day after the mandate of the UN mission in the territory, MINURSO, expired without renewal.
Speaking on Moroccan television channel 2M’s Special Interview program, Bourita said withdrawing the file from the Fourth Committee would be technically far easier than passing a resolution on it in the Security Council, because the General Assembly has no veto system and Morocco counts on the support of a majority of countries.
His remarks follow Friday’s Security Council meeting, where two rival drafts on MINURSO failed and the mission’s mandate lapsed on October 31. The Royal Cabinet said after the votes that the non-renewal should bring an end to the Security Council’s regular consideration of the issue, and that similar steps would be pursued within other UN bodies.
Bourita reiterated that Morocco remains committed to a political solution on the basis of its autonomy initiative and said Rabat aims to expand international support for it. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, rejects the autonomy framework and continues to call for a self-determination referendum that includes the option of independence.
The Fourth Committee handles special political and decolonization questions at the General Assembly. It hears petitioners on Western Sahara every year and has regularly adopted resolutions on the territory. Parliament’s two chambers are separately due to hold a joint session on Monday to review the latest developments.
Related: Moroccan Parliament to Hold Joint Session on Sahara Developments Monday and Morocco’s Royal Cabinet Calls for MINURSO to Leave After UN Vote Deadlock.
Sources: Assahifa English; Maroc4; Medi1News; 2M Special Interview.
Featured image: Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in 2025. Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.