King Mohammed VI chaired a working meeting at the Royal Palace in Rabat on Wednesday, focused on the transition that follows the end of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara. The session came just days after the UN Security Council decided, at its October 30 meeting, not to renew MINURSO’s mandate, closing out thirty-five years of UN presence in the territory.
Joining the King were Head of Government Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, royal adviser Fouad Ali El Himma, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, and General Mohamed Berrid, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces and commander of the southern military zone. That mix of government, Palace and military officials signals how seriously Rabat is treating the logistics of what comes next.
According to a statement from the Royal Cabinet, the King reiterated the guidelines set out in his October 30 address: unwavering respect for Morocco’s territorial integrity, protection of national security, and reassurance for residents of the southern provinces. He instructed officials to carry out these priorities firmly and with vigilance, while ordering that major development projects already under way in the south continue without interruption.
The statement was pointed about one issue in particular: Morocco’s adherence to the ceasefire is voluntary and does not hinge on MINURSO’s continued existence, a mission the Cabinet described as having fallen short on both monitoring compliance and holding violators accountable. To manage the handover, a dedicated Coordination Office with MINURSO will be set up under the Interior Ministry, tasked with overseeing, alongside the United Nations, the winding-down of the mission’s activities and its withdrawal from Moroccan territory.
The Royal Cabinet also pointed to growing international recognition, among friendly and allied nations, of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, and restated that the autonomy plan put forward by Rabat remains, in its view, the only framework capable of meeting every requirement for a definitive settlement of the dispute.
