Algiers, August 13, 2018 (SPS) - The United Nations Secretary General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler intends to send invitations, probably by the end of September, to the two parties to the conflict in Western Sahara (Polisario Front and Morocco), in line with the UN efforts to restart direct negotiations and find a solution guaranteeing the right of Sahrawi people to self-determination, said Sunday Polisario Front's Coordinator with the UN Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), M'hamed Kheddad.
"The UN Security Council has showed a clear willingness to move forward in the resolution of the forty-year long conflict in Western Sahara, by drawing up a roadmap and sending, in the coming weeks (probably by the end of September), invitations to the two parties to the conflict, Polisario Front and Morocco, to a negotiating table in October or November, and resume the fifth round of direct negotiations, at a standstill since 2012," Kheddad told APS.
"The UN hopes that the parties would show good will and would engage effectively in the settlement process within the six-month deadline set by the Security Council to MINURSO, whose mandate will expire by 31 October," said the Sahrawi official.
The two parties have to engage in direct negotiations in accordance with the Security Council's resolution 2414" in good faith without preconditions" in order to allow Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination, he recalled.
Kheddad did not rule out "possible manoeuvres" by Morocco to undermine the settlement process, adding "the situation could not continue any longer and peace will never be at the mercy of Morocco's procrastinations."
"Polisario Front has always expressed its full readiness to cooperate with the UN envoy and remains ready to engage in negotiations in accordance with Security Council's resolutions," he said. (SPS)
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