UN panel backs Morocco on Western Sahara

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The headline here seems to be Orwellian.

New York - A United Nations General Assembly committee dealt a heavy blow on Monday to Western Sahara's hopes for a referendum on independence and energised Morocco's push for new talks on the territory's future status.

The assembly's decolonisation committee voted 52 to 0 - but with 89 abstentions - to back a resolution drafted by Algeria endorsing the latest UN proposal for the vast northwest African territory of about 260 000 people.

While the Algerian resolution passed, Morocco, which seized Western Sahara in 1975 immediately after it won independence from colonial power Spain, claimed the large number of abstentions as "a great victory." The panel's membership is identical to the 191-nation General Assembly's.

"Morocco has always backed a negotiated diplomatic settlement and Algeria tried to block the process," said Moroccan UN Ambassador Mohamed Bennouna.

IOL