UN-backed talks on Western Sahara to resume tomorrow

A second round of United Nations-backed talks on Western Sahara will begin on Friday outside of New York, a spokesman for the world body announced today.

As with the first meeting in June, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Peter van Walsum, will lead the two-day discussions between the parties – Morocco and the Frente Polisario – and neighbouring countries Algeria and Mauritania.

The meetings are private and will be closed to the press.

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been in place since September 1991 to monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Frente Polisario, which contest the territory.

In an April resolution, the Security Council called on the parties to enter into negotiations “without preconditions in good faith.”