Liberia has once again thrown its weight behind Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, delivering a forceful statement before the United Nations Security Council in New York on Friday. The remarks came during an explanation of vote following the Council’s review of the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), whose mandate was not renewed in the customary manner.
Speaking on behalf of his country, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Louis Garciadeh Brown II, left little room for interpretation. « We support the Moroccan autonomy proposal, » he told Council members, framing it as the most workable path toward ending the decades-old regional dispute over Western Sahara.
The ambassador was candid about the stakes of further delay. The passage of time, he said, cannot be a substitute for progress toward peace, urging all parties to move beyond rhetoric and translate stated commitments into tangible action on the ground.
Brown also voiced hope that genuine commitment and full cooperation among the parties involved would finally emerge, calling it the only realistic route to a lasting settlement built on the Moroccan autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty.
Liberia’s intervention adds to a growing roster of nations that have, session after session, stepped forward to back the proposal Rabat first tabled in 2007. The plan envisions broad self-governance for the population of the Sahara while keeping the territory under Moroccan sovereignty, a formula its backers describe as the most realistic and durable compromise available for a dispute that has dragged on for nearly half a century.
The Security Council remains the central forum where the future of the UN’s presence in the region is negotiated each year. Statements delivered during these sessions, whether from permanent or non-permanent members, continue to shape the diplomatic balance surrounding a file that regional and international actors alike are watching closely.
