"I want to make it clear. It was not my decision not to extend his term of contract," Mr. Ban Ki-moon said at a press conference, while reiterating commitment to continue the negotiations process with a new mediator, whose appointment is underway.

    Mr. Van Walsum "sent me a note saying that he felt that he had done enough for his role and that I had better find some other person," said the UNSG, who affirmed that he "did not make a decision on that until the last minute."
 
    "Since he decided voluntarily to quit this post I had to find another person to replace him, because I am also very committed to continue this negotiation process," stressed Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who paid anew tribute to Mr. Van Walsum.

    The former Personal Envoy "had shown extremely capable leadership, commitment and a great deal of
 passion to come to a resolution to this long-standing issue," the UN official added.

    "I highly appreciate his contribution," he went on, recalling that Mr.Walsum has convened four rounds of negotiations "with some success, improvement, progress, but with ups and downs."

Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas