VZCZCXRO6465
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #1688/01 3061203
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021203Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7686
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 3115
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3432
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5826
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4819
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3638

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 001688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MO WS
SUBJECT: MOROCCO COMMITTED TO NEXT ROUND OF SAHARA TALKS, 
BUT NOT YET READY TO FIX A DATE 
 
REF: RABAT 1671 
 
Classified by DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: MFA Chief of Staff and I/O Chief Nasser 
Bourita confirmed PolCouns November 1 Morocco's determination 
to pursue UN-sponsored negotiations with the POLISARIO Front, 
and to clarify the issue of time and place for the next 
round.  He said this can only begin when Morocco's new 
government is fully in place, a process he claimed was not 
yet complete.  Bourita affirmed that Morocco recognized the 
POLISARIO as its negotiating partner and was not trying to 
undermine it by sending pro-Moroccan Sahrawis to the 
negotiations, but it would never accept that the POLISARIO is 
the sole representative of the Sahrawis.  End summary. 
 
TIME AND PLACE 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (C) MFA Chief of Staff and I/O Chief Nasser Bourita 
summoned PolCouns to the Ministry on the morning of November 
¶1.  Brandishing copies of correspondence to and from Van 
Walsum, Bourita insisted that previous discussion of time and 
place for the next round of talks between Morocco and the 
POLISARIO had only been a question posed by Van Walsum, not a 
proposition, which required consultations.  As noted in the 
Manhasset communique, the parties had agreed to consult on a 
time and place.  Morocco did not have those consultations 
yet, said Bourita. 
 
¶3. (C) Bourita indicated that when Van Walsum met with 
then-minister Benaissa in New York on September 24, the 
UNSYG's Personal Representative he had posed "questions" 
about the timing and location asking Moroccan views about 
Switzerland.  Two days later then-Minister-delegate Fassi 
Fihri spoke on the phone with Van Walsum to provide a 
preliminary response confirmed by a letter from the MFA on 
October 9.  The Moroccans laid out in the letter their formal 
process of government formations, which depended on a vote of 
confidence held only on October 31, but which still has not 
fully run its course, he said, declining to specify an end 
date.  The GOM and MFA would only then be able to begin 
consultations, and would very soon be ready to initiate that 
process.  He hoped Van Walsum would at that point move to 
pursue formal consultations. 
 
¶4. (C) On locations, Bourita allowed that Switzerland was 
mentioned but emphasized that no formal invitation had been 
received.  Morocco had received, as had the UN, an offer from 
Austria to host the talks as well as from a third country, 
perhaps Portugal.  Morocco is not in principle opposed to 
Switzerland but has not agreed.  Morocco had requested 
consultations with Van Walsum to resolve the question of 
place and date of the meeting. 
 
¶5. (C) Bourita noted that Van Walsum himself had limited his 
offer of timing to December 8, citing personal commitments. 
While the POLISARIO has announced publicly its agreement to 
November in Geneva, in September their negotiator Bieissat 
had said they would go to Geneva in January.  Bourita said 
Morocco wanted to make sure that consultations were going on 
with both sides, and refused to negotiate or be pressured 
through POLISARIO press statements. 
 
AND SUBSTANCE 
------------- 
 
¶6. (C) On substance, Bourita said Van Walsum should look 
closely at the October 31 UNSC resolution, and particularly 
its new elements. He also wanted Van Walsum to take account 
of the nonsymmetrical treatment of the two efforts and to 
focus the talks, as the USG had originally proposed, on the 
Moroccan autonomy plan.  Van Walsum should not pretend as he 
seems to do that the proposals are equal. 
 
¶7. (C) Bourita believed the resolution's mention of events 
since June 2006 was a specific reference to the Moroccan 
initiative, the King's formation of the CORCAS, and the 
autonomy plan.  This could hardly be a reference to the 
POLISARIO proposal, which was put together in four hours. 
 
¶8. (C) On representation, Bourita stated Morocco seeks not to 
undercut the POLISARIO; it has agreed to negotiate with it 
and that the POLISARIO is the party with which a political 
agreement will be concluded.  What Morocco does not agree to, 
 
RABAT 00001688  002 OF 002 
 
 
he said, is the POLISARIO claim to exclusivity of 
representation of the Sahrawi people.  The existence of the 
CORCAS reflects the fact that many Sahrawis support and even 
hold positions in the Government of Morocco, which is why 
they are an essential part of the Moroccan delegation. 
Although formally in the UN process, their existence is not 
to be denied, he underscored. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) The formal installation of the Moroccan government 
indeed has taken some time, but appears to us to be 
essentially complete.  The PM's office has informed us that 
since the vote of confidence has been held (septel), formal 
meetings with him and his cabinet could begin next week. 
 
 
***************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
***************************************** 
 
Riley