New UN envoy for Western Sahara begins first visit to region tomorrow

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s new Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, is set to start his first trip to the region tomorrow with visits to Morocco, Algeria and other principals in an effort to overcome the impasse blocking a 2003 peace plan for a referendum on self-determination.

The 14-year-old UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been monitoring a ceasefire and seeking to organize a vote following fighting between Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, which sought independence, after Spain's withdrawal in 1976.

Mr. van Walsum, a Dutch career diplomat who succeeded former envoy James A. Baker III, will visit Rabat, the Moroccan capital, Tindouf in the Algerian Sahara and Algiers, the Algerian capital, as well as Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, which renounced all claims to Western Sahara in 1979.

He will consult with the various governments and the Frente Polisario leadership how best to overcome the present impasse and report back to Mr. Annan.

In his latest report to the Security Council in August Mr. Annan said there had been no agreement on what could be done to overcome the deadlock over the peace plan proposed in 2003 by Mr. Baker, which envisaged a period of transition during which there would be a division of responsibilities between Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO before holding a referendum.

In April, he had reported that the stalemate had left tens of thousands of Saharan refugees living in deplorable conditions, relying for their survival on the generosity of the international community.