UN envoy to Western Sahara set to resume diplomatic visits to the region

UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, may resume his diplomatic shuttle trips in the region in August, in a bid to give a fresh impetus to the negotiation process between the Polisario Front and Morocco, stalled since 2012, according to a UN sourcein New York.

The UN envoy may begin a new tour of the region this month, according to the source, which added that the United Nations is paving the way for the resumption of the negotiating process.

No date has been set so far, the source noted, stressing that “obstacles to the peace-making efforts of Ross during the upcoming regional trip may stem from Morocco.”

The last time the two sides sit around a negotiation table dates back to March 2012 in Manhasset, New York. 

The UN Security Council said in a resolution adopted in April that the parties to the conflict must brace for a fifth round.

Last Tuesday, the Security Council called for the resumption of talks between the Polisario Front and Morocco culminating in the staging of a referendum on Western Sahara people’s self-determination.

UN chief’s deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said United Nations Envoy Christopher Ross has had several contacts with the two parties to the conflict and the neighbouring countries, over the past few weeks, to re-invigorate the Western Sahara negotiation process.

However, Morocco still puts obstacles on the way of direct negotiations with the Polisario Front, despite formal requests for this purpose from the UN Security Council and Secretary-General of the United Nations on the status of Western Sahara territory.