The ship was illegally seized in South Africa before it returned to its legitimate owner, the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), whiose experts described the incident as a new setback for the opponents of Morocco's territorial integrity.

At a meeting organized by the EU-Morocco Friendship Group at the European Parliament in partnership with the EuroMedA Foundation think tank under the theme "Natural Resources and International Law",Abdellah Saaf, president of the Center for Studies and Research in Social Sciences, and Abdelkader Azraih, Deputy Secretary General of the EuroMeda Foundation, analyzed the "political" motivations of this affair, the outcome of which confirmed the legitimacy of the national cause, and a bitter failure for polisario which devotes itself to a true judicial war against the interests of the Kingdom to contest the exploitation of natural resources in the Moroccan Sahara.

Saaf began his argument by mentioning the history of this case since the illegal seizure, on May 1, 2017, of OCP cargo by the South African authorities, for about a year, until its release a news that destabilized Polisario separatists and Algeria believing this could never happen.

In July 2017, following a judicial decision of a political nature and devoid of any legal basis, the OCP group refused to participate in a mock trial, which is entirely legitimate, according to Mr. Saaf who considers that the South African court was not competent to rule on this case of international law.

Short of options, the South African court had pronounced a judgment by default and without substance granting the ownership of the cargo to polisario.

With the incapacity of the latter to find, after eight months, a purchaser acknowledging any right to the cargo, the shipowner filed a request seeking judicial sale in order to release the ship.

The judicial sale  reports Mr. Saaf, was a failure, as no operator wanted to be complicit in this serious violation of the basic principles of the law threatening the freedom of international trade.

"Nobody wanted to deal with the other party, especially since OCP intended to bring to trial any buyer of pirated goods," said the expert in political science and international law to conclude that the return decision, which came to correct an "absurd" sentence, sign the failure of separatists who did not have legitimacy and media coverage they hoped for. "They wanted to create an antecedent, it was Morocco which made it," Saaf said.

On the oher hand, Mr. Azraih warned against purely political nature of this case, which is part of Polisario's maneuvering to politically exploit the issues of natural resources and human rights.

While emphasizing the importance of participating in a reflection on the relationship between natural resources and international law, Mr. Azraih highlighted Morocco's efforts to promote the southern provinces, both economically and socially. , especially through the new development model for these provinces, as well as in terms of human rights. In this context, he highlighted the role of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and its regional commissions, particularly in the three regions of the southern provinces.

Speaking on this occasion, the president of the EU-Morocco friendship group MEP Gilles Pargneaux welcomed the contribution of the two experts who shed light on this matter of proven political nature.

While denouncing an act of "maritime piracy", the MEP stressed that the outcome of this crisis with the return of the cargo to its legitimate owner, OCP, reinforces the position of Morocco against its opponents on the international scene proving that it "is legally qualified to exploit natural resources in the Sahara in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter".

It also reflects the failure of Polisario that did not manage to have legitimacy and media coverage, let alone the creation of an antecedent with this case, said Mr. Pargneaux, also founding President of EuroMedA, which organizes this meeting.

The EuroMeda Foundation (Europe-Morocco-Mediterranean-Africa) brings together political, economic, associative, cultural and academic personalities who seek to create a discussion forum for debate to help decision making by the political leaders of both shores of the Mediterranean.

-News on Western Sahara issue/ Corcas-