Page 9 19. For its part, the UN Security Council which has never ceased to emphasise the need for just and lasting solution that guarantees self-determination for the Sahrawi people, reiterated through Resolution 1720 (2006), its determination to work towards reaching a just and negotiated solution that gives the people of Western Sahara that chance of self-determination. 20. On the other hand, it should be recalled that the General Assembly, based on the initiative of Morocco and Mauritania, referred the issue to the International Court of Justice which through a legal opinion issued on 16 October 1975, clearly acknowledged that “the elements and information at its disposal do not establish the existence of any regional sovereignty relationships between Western Sahara on the one hand, and the Kingdom of Morocco and the Mauritanian Entity on the other. Therefore, the Court did not establish any legal ties that could prevent the implementation of Resolution 1514 (15) of the UN General Assembly on the Decolonisation of Western Sahara, particularly implementation of the principle of self-determination through free and genuine expression of the will of the people of the region. 21. In like manner, the same opinion expressed by the UN Legal Adviser on 29 January 2002 at the request of the UN Security Council, has confirmed clearly that Morocco is not the administrative authority in the region. It also confirmed that the 1975 Madrid Agreements have not transferred sovereignty of the region to their signatories. Those agreements have not affected the status of the Western Sahara as a region that has not yet exercised its right to self-determination. “the Madrid Accord has not transferred sovereignty and has not given any of the signatory States the right to become the administrative authority of the region. This status was not given to Spain to be transferred unilaterally. The transfer of the administration of the region to Morocco and Mauritania in 1975 has not changed the status of Western Sahara as a region that has not gained independence. 22. In fact, the UN General Assembly, Security Council, International Court of Justice, and the Legal Section of the United Nations, have all clearly recognized that the

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