UN Western Sahara envoy optimistic

03/07/2009

In an effort to resume the stalled Manhasset talks over the disputed Sahara territory, Christopher Ross will mediate an informal meeting between Morocco and the Polisario.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 03/07/09

[STR/AFP/Getty Images] UN envoy Christopher Ross (centre), shown with Polisario officials in Tindouf, ended a week-long tour to break the deadlock over Western Sahara.

UN Western Sahara envoy Christopher Ross ended his second regional tour on June 30th on an optimistic note after securing an agreement that could break the deadlocked talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front over the future of the Sahara territory.

"I'm optimistic about a first informal meeting which, I'm sure, will make an important contribution to the search for a resolution to the conflict, which has gone on too long and which is hindering the work that needs to be done on regional integration," Ross said following talks with Morocco's Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri in Rabat on Monday.

Ross also made stops in Algiers, Tindouf, and Nouakchott. He ended the week-long tour – the second since his appointment earlier this year – in Madrid, where he met with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

The Moroccan government said it agreed to participate "positively" in the informal meeting on the basis of a recent UN Security Council resolution calling on all parties to enter into serious negotiations.

"Ross is working within a specific mission, which is the implementation of the latest Security Council resolution, which focuses on the need to take into consideration the achievements made in recent years, including the gains made by the Moroccan proposal for autonomy as a compromise solution for the issue of Sahara," Fihri told reporters following his meeting with the UN secretary-general envoy on Monday.

The Polisario Front also vowed a positive approach.

"The Front reiterates its position for co-operation with Mr. Christopher Ross with good intentions in order to implement the latest Security Council recommendation in which it called for holding negotiations between the two parties in dispute, the Polisario Front and Morocco, without any preconditions in order to reach a solution that guarantees the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination," said Mohammed Khadad, co-ordinator of Polisario with the UN.

Khadad, however, said that resuming the negotiations would hinge on the "respect of human rights, as negotiations can't just continue when human rights are being violated in the Western Sahara cities that are occupied by Morocco".

Tajeddine el-Husseini of Mohammed V University in Rabat downplayed Ross' optimism, calling it "an intelligent diplomatic move".

"We cannot depend on that to assess the success of any move towards resolving the situation," el-Husseini told Magharebia. "The agreement of the parties to enter into unofficial talks is not at all a success. Rather, it’s only preparation for a stage that the parties had already tried. Therefore, there is no real development in views. The only new development may be the involvement of some Arab countries, such as Qatar and Libya … to secure some sort of flexibility in the positions of the parties to the dispute."

Four rounds of UN-mediated direct talks in Manhasset, New York, failed to resolve the 30-year dispute. Morocco has proposed autonomy for the disputed territory, but within Moroccan sovereignty. The Polisario wants the status to be decided through a referendum that includes independence as an option. A fifth round of talks scheduled for June 2008 was delayed following objections by the Polisario over a statement by Van Walsum that independence is no longer a realistic option.

A UN Security Council resolution issued in April urged Morocco and the Polisario to achieve a "lasting and mutually acceptable political solution".