ALGIERS/RABAT (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council unanimously backed attempts to restart talks between Morocco and the Polisario independence movement over the Western Sahara conflict, and extended its peacekeeping mission there for another year.

The resolution came after the U.N. mission confirmed the Polisario had withdrawn troops from the Guerguerat area of the territory, a vast swath of desert bordering the Atlantic Ocean that has been contested since 1975.

They had faced off in Guerguerat since 2016 with Morocco, which pulled its forces back earlier this year.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this month called for Morocco and the Polisario Front, which fought a war over the region until a 1991 ceasefire, to enter new negotiations that would include proposals from both sides.

“This action should improve the prospects of creating an environment that will facilitate early implementation of Mr. Guterres’s determination to relaunch the negotiating process,” the U.N. spokesman said in a statement noting Morocco’s early pullback and confirming Polisario’s withdrawal.

Morocco claimed Western Sahara after colonial Spain left, but Polisario fought a guerrilla war for independence for the Sahrawi people there until the U.N.-backed ceasefire.

U.N. talks have long failed to broker an agreement on how to decide on self-determination. Morocco wants an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. But Polisario wants a U.N.-backed referendum including on the question of independence.

The U.N. resolution on Friday extended the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, until April 30, 2018 and called on the parties to resume a fifth round of talks.

Against a backdrop of decades of past political failures and mistrust, the resolution noted Morocco’s 2007 autonomy proposal and welcomed Rabat’s “serious” efforts to progress.

It also emphasized Polisario’s 2007 proposal, which calls for a referendum between independence, integration with Morocco and self-governance.

Past attempts to broker a deal have been fallen apart over details mostly on referendum terms, including who should be allowed to vote.

REGIONAL HOPES

Morocco’s foreign ministry said in a statement the kingdom was satisfied with the resolution, and hoped for a “real process” toward a solution, which it said should be the autonomy initiative.

Morocco also called for neighboring Mauritania as well as Algeria, which backs Polisario and maintains tense relations with Rabat, to be involved in negotiations.

“All parties must assume their responsibilities, Algeria must assume its responsibility,” Foreign Minister Nacer Bourita told reporters in Rabat. “Algeria is the missing key.”

That position has in the past been rejected by Polisario which sees the conflict only between itself and Rabat.

Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra on Saturday called the resolution a victory for the Sahrawi cause that put the process “back on track”, according to the APS state news agency.

The dispute also reflect splits in the security council. France backs former colony Morocco, and Polisario’s self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been supported by some non-permanent council members and South Africa.

Friday’s UN resolution noted the need for more support for Sahrawi refugees who fled the conflict and have since lived in camps in the south of Algeria.

Since the 1991 ceasefire, the region has effectively been split by an earthen wall separating an area controlled by Morocco that it claims as its southern provinces, and territory controlled by the Polisario with a U.N.-mandated buffer zone between them.

U.N. peacekeepers intervened in a standoff last year after Moroccan forces crossed beyond the earthen wall in Guerguerat near the Mauritania border and Polisario responded by dispatching troops to the area.</s>The United Nations Security Council has unanimously backed the U.N. chief's attempts to restart negotiations to end the Western Sahara conflict and extended its peacekeeping mission for another year.

ALGIERS: The United Nations Security Council has unanimously backed the U.N. chief's attempts to restart negotiations to end the Western Sahara conflict and extended its peacekeeping mission for another year.

The resolution late on Friday came after the U.N. mission confirmed the Polisario Western Sahara independence movement had withdrawn its troops from the Guerguerat area in the disputed territory where they had faced off since last year with Moroccan forces.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this month called for Morocco and the Polisario Front, who fought a war over the region until a 1991 ceasefire, to enter new negotiations that would include proposals from both sides.

"Together with the earlier withdrawal of Moroccan elements.... this action should improve the prospects of creating an environment that will facilitate early implementation of Mr. Guterres's determination to relaunch the negotiating process," the U.N. spokesman said in a statement confirming the Polisario withdrawal.

A vast desert area bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Western Sahara has been contested since 1975 when colonial Spain left. Morocco claimed the region, but Polisario fought a guerrilla war for independence until the U.N.-backed ceasefire.

U.N. talks have long failed to broker an agreement on how to decide self-determination. Morocco wants an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. But Polisario wants a U.N.-backed referendum including on the question of independence.

Since the ceasefire, the region has effectively been split by an earthen wall separating an area controlled by Morocco that it claims as its southern provinces, and territory controlled by the Polisario with a U.N.-mandated buffer zone between them.

Tensions rose last year when U.N. peacekeepers intervened in a standoff after Moroccan forces crossed beyond the earthen wall in Guerguerat near the Mauritania border and Polisario responded by dispatching troops to the area.</s>The United Nations Security Council has unanimously backed the UN chief’s attempts to restart negotiations to end the Western Sahara conflict and extended its peacekeeping mission for another year. The resolution late on Friday came after the UN mission confirmed the Polisario Western Sahara independence movement had withdrawn its troops from the Guerguerat area in the disputed territory where they had faced off since last year with Moroccan forces.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this month called for Morocco and the Polisario Front, who fought a war over the region until a 1991 ceasefire, to enter new negotiations that would include proposals from both sides.

“Together with the earlier withdrawal of Moroccan elements…. this action should improve the prospects of creating an environment that will facilitate early implementation of Mr. Guterres’s determination to relaunch the negotiating process,” the UN spokesman said in a statement confirming the Polisario withdrawal.

A vast desert area bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Western Sahara has been contested since 1975 when colonial Spain left. Morocco claimed the region, but Polisario fought a guerrilla war for independence until the UN-backed ceasefire.

UN talks have long failed to broker an agreement on how to decide self-determination. Morocco wants an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. But Polisario wants a UN-backed referendum including on the question of independence.

Since the ceasefire, the region has effectively been split by an earthen wall separating an area controlled by Morocco that it claims as its southern provinces, and territory controlled by the Polisario with a UN-mandated buffer zone between them.

Tensions rose last year when UN peacekeepers intervened in a standoff after Moroccan forces crossed beyond the earthen wall in Guerguerat near the Mauritania border and Polisario responded by dispatching troops to the area.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>UN Security Council backs new Western Sahara talks push

 

 ALGIERS/RABAT, April 29 (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council unanimously backed attempts to restart talks between Morocco and the Polisario independence movement over the Western Sahara conflict, and extended its peacekeeping mission …</s>The United Nations set its sights on restarting political talks on the disputed territory of Western Sahara after the Polisario Front independence movement pulled back fighters from a tense zone.

UN military observers confirmed that the Polisario forces carried out the withdrawal from the Guerguerat area, near the Mauritanian border, on Thursday and Friday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"This action should improve the prospects of creating an environment... to relaunch the negotiating process with a new dynamic and a new spirit," he said.

News of the pullback came as the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the new peace initiative and renewing the mandate of the MINURSO peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for a year.

The 450-strong MINURSO is comprised mostly of military observers monitoring the 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario.

The council had postponed the vote on the resolution drafted by the United States to allow the Polisario Front to carry out the withdrawal, as demanded in the earlier version of the draft.

France, which has friendly ties with Morocco, had insisted on a pullback from Guerguerat after Rabat withdrew its forces in February.

Addressing the Security Council, French Ambassador Francois Delattre expressed hope that the resolution would give momentum to the talks and "open a new chapter that will benefit everyone in the region."

The resolution calls on Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario to "show political will and work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue in order to resume negotiations."

The council gave its "full support" for the new initiative aimed at reaching a "mutually acceptable solution" and requests that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres report on the effort within 30 days.

Several ambassadors stressed that the push to restart talks presented an opportunity to end one of the world's most intractable conflicts and warned all sides to engage seriously.

"This council will be watching what the parties do closely," US Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison said following the resolution's adoption.

Guterres told the council this month that he plans to restart negotiations "with a new spirit" and a "new dynamic.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, when Rabat took over the desert territory before the signing of a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Rabat, which considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco, proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence.

One of the hurdles in the way of restarting talks was cleared when long-serving UN envoy Christopher Ross resigned last month following tensions with Morocco, which accused him of bias in favor of the Polisario.

Former German president Horst Kohler has been tipped to replace him.

The United Nations opened negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front in 2007 and there have been several rounds since, with the latest held outside of New York in 2012.

However, there has been little progress over resolving Western Sahara's future status.

After former UN chief Ban Ki-moon described the region's status as an "occupation," Morocco reacted furiously, expelling UN mission staff and threatening to pull out of UN peacekeeping. Most of the staff have since returned.

Guterres has spoken by phone with Morocco's King Mohamed VI and met with Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali at UN headquarters in New York last month in a bid to revive political talks.</s>UN Secretary-General António Guterres has declared support for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Guterres’ statement came just as the Security Council unanimously extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until April 30, 2018.

MINURSO was established by Security Council resolution 690 of April 29, 1991 in accordance with settlement proposals accepted on Aug. 30 1988 by Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y de Río de Oro (Frente POLISARIO).

Guterres welcomed the withdrawal of all Frente Polisario elements from the Guerguerat area, as confirmed by MINURSO observers on April 27 to 28.

The UN chief also noted the earlier withdrawal of Moroccan elements from the area, in response to the urging of the Secretary-General.

“This action should improve the prospects of creating an environment that will facilitate early implementation of the Secretary-General’s determination to relaunch the negotiating process with a new dynamic and a new spirit that reflect the Security Council’s guidance and resolutions.

“This is with the aim of reaching a “mutually acceptable political solution which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

“We continue to call on the parties to adhere to their obligations under the ceasefire agreement and to respect both its letter and spirit, and to cooperate fully with MINURSO.

“The need to ensure that tensions do not erupt anew in the Guerguerat area remains vital.

“To this end, MINURSO intends to maintain the position it has held in the Buffer Strip since August 2016 and further discuss the Mission’s future monitoring of the area and the full range of issues related to the Buffer Strip with the parties.”

The Security Council, through a unanimous resolution, on Friday, reaffirmed the need for full respect of the military agreements reached with MINUSRSO with regard to the ceasefire and called on all the parties to adhere fully to those agreements.

Western Sahara is located on the north-west coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria.

The colonial administration of Western Sahara by Spain ended in 1976 but fighting later broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front, and a ceasefire was signed in September 1991.

MINURSO was deployed that year to monitor the ceasefire between the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front and organizing, if the parties agree, a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.

A revised settlement plan was deployed by the UN after seven years of diplomatic consultations was rejected by Morocco in 2004.

In approving the current phase of direct negotiations in 2007, the UN Security Council called for “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political settlement which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.

The settlement plan, as approved by the Security Council, provided for a transitional period for the preparation of a referendum in which the people of Western Sahara would choose between independence and integration with Morocco.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General was to have sole and exclusive responsibility over matters relating to the referendum and was to be assisted in his tasks by MINURSO.

The post UN chief supports self-determination for Western Sahara appeared first on BusinessDay : News you can trust.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution backing the secretary-general's new effort to resolve the 40-year conflict over the Western Sahara which has pitted Morocco against the Polisario Front independence movement.

The resolution was adopted Friday evening shortly after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed that Polisario Front fighters had withdrawn from the town of Guerguerat in the buffer zone on the Morocco-Mauritanian border. He had called for an immediate withdrawal - and the council had been set to echo his appeal.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 and fought the Polisario Front. A referendum on the territory's future has never taken place.

The resolution affirms the Security Council's "full support" for the secretary-general's commitment to relaunch negotiations "with a new dynamic and a new spirit"</s>Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Algeria on Saturday hailed a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a new peace initiative on the disputed territory of Western Sahara as a “diplomatic success”.

Friday’s vote came as UN military observers confirmed that Polisario Front forces, fighting for independence in Western Sahara, had withdrawn from the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian border.

The resolution “is a diplomatic success for the Sahrawi issue because the (peace) process will be back on track”, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said in a statement.

Morocco insists that the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is an integral part of its kingdom, but the Algeria-based Polisario demands a referendum on self-determination there.

The two sides fought for control of the Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Morocco gaining control of the territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect.

Tensions flared last year after the Polisario set up a new military post in Guerguerat — a stone’s throw from Moroccan soldiers — in response to Morocco starting to build a tarmac road in the area.

Morocco pulled out from the area in late February at the request of the UN.

On Saturday, Morocco also welcomed the UN vote, but Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said his country would “monitor closely” developments.

The Polisario pullback must be “complete, unconditional and permanent”, Bourita said.

The post Algeria praises UN vote on disputed Western Sahara appeared first on The Independent Uganda:.

This post was syndicated from The Independent Uganda:. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed voting on a draft resolution on the Western Sahara conflict amid signs the Polisario Front independence movement was preparing a pullback from a tense zone of the contested territory, a council diplomat said.

The US-drafted text included a strong appeal to the Polisario Front to immediately withdraw from the Guerguerat strip, which has become a potential flashpoint between the independence fighters and Moroccan troops.

"The council wants to see if there is any significant development on the ground in these hours," said a council diplomat who asked not to be named.

"We heard that there might be some," he added, referring to the UN demand for the Polisario to withdraw.

The council is now expected to vote Friday on the measure that would endorse a fresh UN initiative to restart talks between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario on settling the decades-old conflict.

France, which has friendly ties with Morocco, had insisted on a pullback from the Guerguerat post near the Mauritanian border after Morocco withdrew its forces in February.

"It is indeed time to look ahead and to relaunch negotiations, that is what we want," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters on Tuesday.

"There is one issue we need to solve and that is Guerguerat," he said.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, when Rabat took over the desert territory before the signing of a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Rabat, which considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco, proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence.

The council diplomat said a withdrawal from the buffer strip would lead to changes in the resolution and pave the way to the appointment of a new UN peace envoy who would shepherd the talks.

The long-serving previous UN envoy, Christopher Ross, resigned last month after Morocco accused him of bias in favor of the Polisario.

Former German president Horst Kohler has been tipped to replace him.

The Polisario moved forces in Guerguerat last year in response to Morocco's decision to build a road in a zone it considers "liberated territory."</s>Rabat - Morocco on Saturday voiced satisfaction at a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a new peace initiative on the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Friday's vote came as UN military observers confirmed that Polisario Front forces, fighting for independence in Western Sahara, had withdrawn from the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian border.

"This action should improve the prospects of creating an environment... to relaunch the negotiating process with a new dynamic and a new spirit," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said after the vote.

The Security Council also voted on Friday to renew the mandate of the MINURSO peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for a year.

Bourita also voiced satisfaction with the withdrawal of Polisario forces from the Guerguerat area, but said Rabat would continue to "monitor closely" developments.

The Polisario pullback must be "complete, unconditional and permanent", he said.

Tensions flared last year after the Polisario set up a new military post in Guerguerat - a stone's throw from Moroccan soldiers - in response to Morocco starting to build a tarred road in the area.

Morocco pulled out from the area in late February at the request of the UN.
The United Nations Security Council extends the MINURSO mission for another year and attempts to restart Western Sahara peace process negotiations after both sides retracted their military from a standoff position in Guerguerat, near the border with Mauritania.