Washington (United States), July 26, 2016 (SPS) - UN Security Council will meet Tuesday to discuss the return of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which has not yet resumed its work despite the end of the deadline set to restore it to full functionality.
UN Secretary General should inform the Security Council Tuesday on Morocco's implementation of Resolution 2285 (2016), which demands the return of the MINURSO's civilian staff, expelled by Rabat, in three months.
The Resolution has given UN chief a 90-day deadline to undertake negotiations with Morocco on the return of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara and inform the Security Council about the outcome of the discussions.
A report on the negotiations will be presented by UN deputy secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, and UN secretary-general's special representative to Western Sahara, Kim Bolduc, during a briefing that will probably be held tomorrow afternoon (July 26), according to a UN source.
The Security Council seems divided, as France wants to get the UN agency to make a positive statement in which it thanks Morocco for having allowed the return of 25 MINURSO employees.
This diversion attempt is aimed at throwing a line to Morocco which has not respected its international commitment, the UN source added.
But this tactic will be strongly rejected by many Security Council members, who have already noted that the draft resolution is weak as it fails to mention the root causes of the dismantle of MINURSO.
In addition, the draft resolution does not give any information about the measures to be taken to restore the UN mission to its full functionality. SPS
125/090/700