"Walsum had been acting in his role as the facilitator for Western Sahara and had some leeway in that role to present his own conclusions," Montas said in reaction to the UN official's remarks that the independence for the Sahara was "unrealistic."

    Montas, who was reacting to the remarks of South Africa's representative in the Security Council, said Walsum is still the personal envoy, and in this capacity he presented his conclusions and his own suggestions to get the issue out of the deadlock.

    On Monday Walsum crushed the proposal of the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists to separate the Sahara (Morocco's southern provinces) from the rest of Morocco when he declared that "an independent Western Sahara is not a realistic option."

    The diplomat also called on the UNSC to recommend to the parties involved in the dispute to resume talks and take into account the political and international reality.

    The UN ambassadors of the United States and Great Britain said the conclusions are worth serious consideration.

    Walsum’s ideas are "worthy of serious consideration," U.S. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters. A similar stance was expressed by British ambassador, Sir John Sawers, who added that Morocco’s autonomy proposal deserves "serious consideration".

    Morocco is proposing to grant the Sahara substantial autonomy under its sovereignty, ruling out the possibility of independence that the Polisario are claiming.

    The Sahara was a Spanish colony that was ceded to Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord, signed with Spain and Mauritania.

    Morocco and the Polisario have resumed talks in June 2007 to reach a deal about the future of the territory. Four rounds were held ever since, under UN aegis, without the parties making substantial headways.
    At the end of the fourth round, held in mid March, the parties agreed to meet later without setting a fixed date.

News and events concerning Western Sahara issue / Corcas