Western Sahara is going to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia

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Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, SADR) is going to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia before the end of 2008. According to a REGNUM source in the SADR Parliament Chairman Mahfoud Ali Beyba's encirclement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia is having intensive consultations with Parliament and the Polisario Front, SADR ruling party, about the procedure of recognition of this new country. Most likely that at the nearest congress the Front will recognize Abkhazia as a sovereign state and before the end of this year SADR will establish diplomatic relations with it.

As it was already reported by REGNUM, up to 90% of the territory of Western Sahara recognized by the United Nations and 80 countries in the world as independent country is currently annexed by the neighboring Kingdom of Morocco. The Foreign Ministry of Russia in its turn expects that Morocco will recognize Abkhazia. In this regard the REGNUM source in SADR noticed that Western Sahara representatives prefer to deal directly with the new countries, as they say. The next consultations round should be held this October in Spain. Also in the near future Polisario's representatives plan to establish work contacts with South Ossetia.

As REGNUM reported before, in early August 2008, the UN on the example of SADR practically abandoned the international law in resolving conflicts. In his interview to the Spanish Pais newspaper, UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Peter van Walsum referring to the prospects for statehood of SADR protection from Morocco annexation said: “It is necessary to comply with the international law, but also it is necessary consider political realities in this particular case … Of course you can get a moral satisfaction from your support of those on whose side the law is, but you need understand that there you risk giving false hopes and prolonging the agony.”