Washington, 5 February 2022 (SPS) - The head of U.S. diplomacy, Antony Blinken, reaffirmed Thursday the continued commitment of the United States to support the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura in the UN political process for Western Sahara.
The spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Ned Price, announced in a statement the meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in Washington.
On this occasion, "Blinken stressed the continued commitment of the United States to support the efforts of de Mistura in leading the UN political process for Western Sahara," he said.
"The secretary and personal envoy also discussed diplomatic engagement with international partners to reinforce a credible political process that will lead to a lasting and dignified resolution of the conflict," he added.
De Mistura had toured the region between January 12 and 19, starting in Morocco, then visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps before going to Algeria and Mauritania, with the aim of examining ways to revive the political process in Western Sahara.
The tour of the Personal Envoy of the UN SG, the first of its kind since his appointment in November 2021, comes in the context of the violation by Morocco of the ceasefire agreement, signed by both parties in 1991, following the aggression carried out by the Moroccan occupation forces against defenseless Sahrawi civilians in the region of El Guerguerat on 13 November 2020.
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