By adopting resolution 1813 in April 2008, the Security Council urged the parties to show "realism and a spirit of compromise" to enable negotiations to move to "an intensive and significant" level, Chevallier said.

    "In this respect, we deem that the autonomy initiative presented by Morocco in April 2007 is a basis for negotiations to reach a reasonable negotiated solution between the parties, within the framework of the United Nations," the spokesman insisted.        

    He further described as "important" the visit of the UNSG's Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, to the region to "enable the parties to resume their dialogue and move forward towards a negotiated political solution, leading to the materialization of a dynamic and prosperous Maghreban grouping that is  beneficial to all the countries of the region.”

    Christopher Ross arrived this Wednesday in Rabat, first leg of a tour in the region. He will also visit Tindouf and Algiers before traveling to Madrid and Paris. He will return to New York by February 27 for further consultations on the Sahara issue at the UN headquarters.

     Delegations from Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania have taken part in four round of negotiations in Manhasset (outskirts of New York), brokered by the UN former mediator, Peter Van Walsum, whose mandate expired in August.

    The negotiations process was launched thanks to the autonomy initiative for the Sahara region presented by Morocco, and which was hailed by the UNSC and the international community as being the result of serious and credible efforts to put an end to the Sahara regional dispute.

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