UN envoy intensifies efforts to revive Western Sahara talks

NEW YORK - Staffan de Mistura, the Personal Envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for Western Sahara, is intensifying efforts to advance negotiations over the legal status of the disputed North African territory bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

The decades-long dispute dates back to 1975, when Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, sparking a confrontation between Morocco - which claims sovereignty and controls most of the region - and the Polisario Front, an independence movement advocating for a referendum on self-determination.

On Friday, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for one year, until 31 October 2026.

The resolution calls on the conflicting parties to engage in negotiations “taking as the basis” Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Proposal, with the goal of achieving “a final and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,” according to the UNSC report.

Responding to a question from Rudaw about the decision, the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday that de Mistura “will now use the resolution to reach out to the parties to see whether we can open another round of negotiations.”

Rabat has hailed the Friday vote as a major diplomatic victory, viewing it as further international recognition of its sovereignty claims.

The Polisario Front, however, rejected the resolution, noting that it remains “the sole and legitimate representative and the voice of the Sahrawi [Western Saharan] people,” whom it said “are strongly committed to their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.”

The Friday resolution was passed with 11 votes in favor amid tense deliberations.

World powers including France, the United Kingdom and the United States publicly supported Morocco’s autonomy plan, while China, Russia and Pakistan abstained.

Washington, which co-sponsored the resolution, described the decision as “historic.” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz urged all sides “to come to the table and engage in serious discussions using Morocco’s credible and realistic autonomy proposal” as a framework.

Meanwhile, Algeria, a longstanding rival of Morocco and vocal supporter of the Polisario’s position, chose not to participate in the vote. Algiers’ Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Amar Bendjama, criticized the resolution as “below the expectations and the legitimate aspirations of the people of Western Sahara.”

Mauritania maintained its stance of “positive neutrality.”

Michael Imran Kanu, the ambassador to the UN of another prominent diplomatic voice on the African front, the Republic of Sierra Leone, told Rudaw that the initiative to bring the Western Sahara issue back to the forefront “is supported by the majority of [UN] member states. It falls within the principle of self-determination and we’re confident that it falls within the confines of international law and the UN Charter."

Ahead of the Friday vote, Guterres’s Personal Envoy for the Western Sahara, de Mistura, held consultations with Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, the Polisario Front, UNSC members, and other stakeholders. After the adoption of the key resolution, more such talks are anticipated.

Namo Abdulla contributed to this report from New York.