United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of continuing the political series on the Sahara conflict on the basis of the directives and resolutions of the Security Council since 2007 since they are the only mean to reach a political solution that satisfies all parties.
This was stated in his draft report on the Sahara conflict, which he will present to the Security Council in the coming days.
“In its resolutions since the beginning of 2007, the Security Council has directed me to facilitate direct negotiations between the parties, which are to occur without preconditions, in good faith, taking into account the efforts made since 2006 and subsequent developments, while working with realism and a spirit of compromise,” Guterres said.
The first detail is the emphasis Guetrres puts in his call on Algeria to contribute to and increase its engagement in the political process.
The report pointed out that the UN is the only leader for this process, denying the presence of any role of other regional and international parties.
In this context, Guterres stressed that his personal envoy, Horst Kohler, held many meetings with representatives of the African Union and the European Union, who reiterated their support for the Personal Envoy and acknowledged the leadership of the United Nations in the political process.
“In these discussions, the interlocutors pledged support to my Personal Envoy’s efforts and acknowledged the lead of the United Nations in the process,” Guterres said.
As in previous reports, the UNSG report steered away from mentioning the European Court of Justice rulings on the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement.
This omission is a setback for the Polisario and Algeria, which have redoubled their efforts in recent years in an attempt to push the United Nations to politicize the questions of the alleged exploitation of natural resources of the territory.
While recognizing Morocco’s efforts to avoid escalation in the buffer zone, Guterres expressed in paragraph 80 of his report concerns about “the renewed Frente Polisario presence in Guerguerat, and the challenges such actions by either party may bring to the ceasefire.”
He, therefore, called on the Polisario to “withdraw from the buffer strip as they did in April 2017”.
