Equipo Nizkor - Algiers Agreement - Mauritano-Sahraoui Agreement.

UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SECURITY COUNCIL
Distr.
GENERAL
A/34/427
S/13503
20 August 1979
ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: FRENCH

GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Thirty-fourth session
Item 18 of the provisional agenda |*|
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECLARATION ON THE
GRANTING OF INDEPENDENCE TO COLONIAL
COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES
SECURITY COUNCIL
Thirty-fourth year

Letter dated 18 August 1979 from the Permanent Representative of Mauritania to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to transmit to you the following message:

''The Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, by the agreement of Algiers concluded on 10 August 1979 with the representatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Seguiet El Hamra and Rio de Oro, Polisario, has renounced all territorial claims to Western Sahara and decided to withdraw definitively from the war taking place there.

In addition, in the declaration of 14 August 1979, it decided to withdraw its troops and administration from the part of Western Sahara which it had been controlling and requested the Moroccan Government to withdraw forthwith its contingents stationed in Mauritanian territory.

In so doing, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania took account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Charter of the Organization of African Unity. It has acted in accordance with resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Security Council and the Organization of African Unity concerning the question of Western Sahara.

By relinquishing all claims to Western Sahara and withdrawing from the part of the region which it had been controlling, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania considers that it has also withdrawn from the conflict concerning this territory. It has thereby assumed a position of strict neutrality.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania therefore requests the United Nations to take note of the agreement of Algiers of 10 August 1979 and the Declaration of Nouakchott of 10 August 1979, the texts of which are annexed hereto, and to consider these two documents as establishing the neutrality of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in the Western Sahara conflict. It also appeals to the United Nations to use all its authority to ensure that States and organizations concerned by the Western Sahara conflict respect this neutral status and the integrity of Mauritanian territory within the limits of the frontiers defined in 1960 and internationally recognized."

I should be grateful if you would have this message and its annexes circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under item 18 of the provisional agenda, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Sid'Ahmed Ould TAYA
Permanent Representative

Annex 1
Mauritano-Sahraoui agreement, signed at Algiers on 10 August 1979

"Considering the commitment of the Mauritanian and Sahraoui parties to scrupulous respect for the inviolable principles of the Charters of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations concerning the rights of peoples to self-determination and the intangibility of frontiers inherited from the colonial era;

"Considering the sincere desire of the two parties, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the Frente Polisario, to establish a just and definitive peace in accordance with the principles of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and neighbourliness;

"Considering the urgent need for the two parties to find a global and definitive solution to the conflict, guaranteeing the Sahraoui people their full national rights and peace and stability for the region;

A. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania solemnly declares that it does not have and will not have any territorial or other claims on Western Sahara.

B. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania decides to withdraw definitively from the unjust Western Sahara war according to the modalities determined by common agreement with the representatives of the Sahraoui people, the Frente Polisario;

"The Frente Polisario solemnly declares that it does not have and will not have any territorial claims on Mauritania.

"The Frente Polisario, on behalf of the Sahraoui people, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania hereby decide to sign an agreement for definitive peace between the two parties.

"The two parties have decided to hold periodic meetings to see that the modalities referred to in paragraph B are followed.

"The two parties shall transmit this agreement immediately after its signature to the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the members of the Ad Hoc Committee, the Secretary-General of OAU, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the current President of the non-aligned movement."

Annex II
Declaration of 14 August 1979 by the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

"The Military Committee for National Safety and the Government, in order to meet your desire for peace, initiated a dynamic process which has just been crowned with success.

"In order to safeguard this newly achieved peace, the Military Committee for National Safety and the Government took the important measures listed below at special meetings held today:

1. The occupation by force of Dakhla by Moroccan troops is considered by Mauritania to be an act of aggression against its provisional administration, at which it is protesting with the utmost vigour to the international authorities ;

2. Given this situation, the Government considers that it is no longer in a position to fulfil its commitments concerning Tiris El Gharbia;

3. Desiring to bring about the conditions necessary for the restoration of genuine peace, it has therefore decided to withdraw as from 15 August 1979 from Tiris El Gharbia and reaffirms that it no longer has any territorial claims thereto;

4. It is informing the parties concerned by the question of Western Sahara of its decision;

5. It is inviting international organizations, in particular the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, to assume their responsibilities;

6. It is requesting Morocco to withdraw its trccps immediately from Mauritanian territory;

7. It is appealing to the international community, and in particular to friendly countries, to help it to defend its independence and its territorial integrity within the limits of its internationally recognized frontiers."

Notes:

* A/34/150 [Back]

Agreement
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