UN chief calls for true negotiations concerning Western Sahara

As the conflict over the future of Western Sahara drags on into the fortieth year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on concerned parties to launch true negotiations in the coming months.

"The situation in northwest Africa is becoming increasingly alarming," said Ban, and noted that this conflict must be brought to an end if the people of the region are to meet their shared challenges and achieve their full potential.

"The definitive status of this territory is the object of a negotiating process being conducted under my auspices in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions," he said.

"I note with regret that the April 2007 proposals of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front have not opened the way to the genuine negotiations for which the council and I have repeatedly called," he deplored.

Ban pointed out that his personal envoy, Christopher Ross, has intensified efforts to facilitate the entry of the parties into negotiations without preconditions and in good faith to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Ban urged all parties concerned to take advantage of his personal envoy's intensified efforts.

After the end of Spain's colonial administration of Western Sahara in 1976, fighting broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

A cease-fire was reached in September 1991. Morocco has presented a plan for autonomy, while the Polisario Front's position is that the territory's final status should be decided in a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara is tasked with monitoring this cease-fire and organizing a referendum on self-determination in the territory. Endi