Global Arab Network | Algeria supports UN push for Western Sahara talks

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Algeria supports UN push for Western Sahara talks

- Hannan Taha

Sunday, 03 May 2009 17:05

Algeria's goverment welcomed a call by the UN Security Council for Morocco and the Polisario independence movement to resume talks on the future of Western Sahara "without pre-conditions." "Algeria welcomes the renewed attachment of the UN Security Council to a just and fair solution that guarantees the people of Western Sahara their right to self-determination," Algeria's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The 15 Council members unanimously voted on Thursday to extend the mandate of a UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until April 2010.

Member countries call upon both sides "to continue negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) without pre-conditions and in good faith," the council's latest resolution said.

The Polisario Front has disputed Morocco's claim to Western Sahara since Rabat annexed it in 1975 after former colonial power Spain withdrew. (AFP)

according to (Xinhua), the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday to extend the UN peacekeeping force in Western Sahara for another year, expanding its mandate to include a humanitarian dimension.

The 15-member council reaffirmed its "commitment to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara," the statement, Resolution 1871, said.

In reiterating its call for "all parties involved to cooperate fully with the UN and with each other to achieve progress towards a political solution," Resolution 1871 goes one step further than its predecessors to include a "humanitarian dimension" to the UN peacekeeping mission, UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

The council stressed the "importance of making progress on the humanitarian dimension of the conflict as a means to promote transparency and mutual confidence though the constructive dialogue and humanitarian confidence-building measures," the statement said.

Morocco, which annexed most of Western Sahara in the 1970s as Spain ended its colonial administration, has proposed that the region has a measure of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.

But the Polisario (formally known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro) has insisted that the people of the region be allowed to vote on a referendum that would include the option of independence.

MINURSO was established in 1991 through UN Security Council Resolution 690. Its mandate is to monitor the cease-fire agreement between the two parties to the conflict over the Western Sahara --the government of Morocco and Polisario. The UN classifies Western Sahara as a "non-self-governing territory."

Speaking in his capacity as Mexican Ambassador to the UN, Claude Heller, who is also the rotating council president for April, said he was pleased Resolution 1871 included a humanitarian dimension to the MINURSO mission.

Global Arab Network

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