Oct. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the latest annual report by UN Secretary General António Guterres, where he reviews the context of the last year in the region.
During this meeting, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, together with the special representative for Western Sahara and leader of the UN Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Alexander Ivanko, informed the member countries of the latest developments around the Sahara, as reported by the MAP news agency.
Diplomatic sources at the UN indicated that, during these consultations, a large number of countries expressed their support for Morocco’s autonomy initiative, while strongly and unanimously supporting the UN political process to reach a political agreement.
They also reaffirmed their support for De Mistura’s efforts, while making a strong and frank call for the resumption, as soon as possible, of the round table process, and welcomed the cooperation of the Moroccan side with MINURSO, as reported by the newspaper ‘Le Matin’.
Within the framework of this meeting, De Mistura also held a meeting with the representative of the Polisario Front at the United Nations, Sidi Mohamed Omar, in which the latter reaffirmed the position of the Saharawi side on the peace process, the agency reported. Saharawi SPS news.
The secretary general of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, accused Guterres on Saturday of maintaining an “accomplice and unjustifiable silence” on Morocco’s alleged abuses, including the breakdown of the ceasefire, and warned that there is no room for negotiations if “impunity” ends.
Ghali responded by letter to the latest annual report of the UN Secretary General, where he reviews the context of the last year in the region. For the Polisario leader, Guterres omits criticism of Morocco in an “unforgivable” way, despite the fact that Rabat would be responsible for “breaking the ceasefire that lasted almost 30 years.”
He also accused Morocco of torpedoing the work of the UN and, in particular, of its special envoy to the area, Staffan de Mistura, who had been “blocked” from visiting the disputed territory. The Polisario maintained that De Mistura’s trip was frustrated because he did not accept the conditions imposed by Rabat and that he did not meet with Saharawi activists.
