New York, April 28, 2018 (SPS) – The United Nations Security Council adopted, in a debate Friday on the issue of Western Sahara, a resolution which reaffirms the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and calls on the two parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Polisario Front, to hold negotiations “without prerequisites and in good faith,” under the auspices of UN Secretary General.
The “marathon” negotiations and the debate dubbed “extremely positive and constructive” culminated in the adoption of the resolution 2414 of 27 April 2018 on Western Sahara.
Several salient points were underlined in this debate held at the Security Council. It was first noted “a strong support of the member States to a fair, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that guarantees the people of Western Sahara their right to self-determination.”
The member States of the Security Council called on the two parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Polisario Front, “to resume as soon as possible their direct negotiations” and expressed their support to the UN Secretary General’s personal envoy to organize these negotiations.
Several members of the Security Council interpreted the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Holding of a Referendum in Western Sahara by six months instead of one year as a “means of pressure” on the two sides, particularly on Morocco “to begin, without delay, the aforementioned negotiations.”
Several delegations reaffirmed their “unwavering support” to the legitimate rights to the Sahrawi people, as well as the protection of human rights in the territories of Western Sahara. (SPS)
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