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Western Sahara: UN envoy travels to region for talks

Western Sahara: UN envoy travels to region for talks

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross
The envoy spearheading United Nations efforts to help resolve the dispute over the status of Western Sahara is scheduled to arrive in Rabat, Morocco, today on the first leg of a nine-day visit to the region.

The trip by Christopher Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, follows the commitment reiterated by the parties to the dispute during their informal talks in Armonk, New York, on 10-11 February to continue their negotiations as soon as possible.

Mr. Ross will also visit Tindouf, the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott and Algiers, wrapping up his mission on 25 March. The mission is his third to the region since his appointment in January 2009.

Discussions in Armonk represented the second round of informal talks held in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1871, which last year called on the parties to continue the dialogue under the auspices of the Secretary-General without preconditions to achieve “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”

Fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario after the Spanish colonial administration of Western Sahara ended in 1976. Morocco has presented a plan for autonomy while the position of the Frente Polisario is that the territory’s final status should be decided in a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.

A UN mission, known as MINURSO, has been entrusted with monitoring the ceasefire reached in September 1991 and organizing a referendum on self-determination.