The personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Moroccan Sahara, Staffan de Mistura has recently been engaged in intense diplomatic activities. Indeed, three days ago, de Mistura met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, José Manuel Albares, on the sidelines of the seventh session of the Conference of Mediterranean Dialogues in Rome as part of the meetings with the representatives of the Group of Friends of the Sahara which includes Spain, the United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.
Spanish Minister Albares on Friday offered “Spain’s full support” to the UN Secretary General’s envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to “facilitate” the task entrusted to him by the Institution. . Madrid which, it seems, has started to soften its political positions has offered to make a private plane available to the UN envoy to facilitate his tours in the region. In the same context, the United Nations Personal Envoy for the Sahara met the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Marina Serini, who confirmed that “this “informal meeting” was an opportunity to call for the strengthening of the political dialogue between the actors involved in this regional conflict in order to reduce future tensions “. But Staffan de Mistura since his appointment last October has not ceased to have political consultations. He met with several international parties to the UN Security Council, including Washington’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, and the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, Ms. Lana Zaki Nusseibeh .
These activities, as we can imagine, are part of its quest for solutions to the conflict within the framework of its mission. In addition, and faithful to his temperament, Staffan de Mistura always remains reluctant to any statement to the press concerning the refusal of Algeria, and of the “Polisario”, to participate in the “round tables” in Geneva. While waiting for such events to take place, the new envoy of the UN Secretary General should visit the Moroccan Sahara in order to inquire about the opinions, opinions and positions of the Sahrawi population on the issue of Moroccan sovereignty. Dr Yasmine Hasnaoui, Professor of Political Science at the American University in Kuwait, specialist in North African affairs and conflict resolution, said that “the meeting held by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Moroccan Sahara with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs is part of the efforts of the UN to find a consensual political solution to this regional conflict.
Yasmine Hasnaoui added, in her statement to MoroccoLatestNews, that “the meeting between the two parties made no reference to the referendum project which has overwhelmed the cup of disputes between Madrid and Rabat in recent years, but rather indicated the opposite, to namely to support the efforts of the United Nations within the framework of the search for a consensual political solution to the file. The professor at the American University in Kuwait, an expert in international relations, explained that ‘ The Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the Sahara also called for new ways to implement the principle of multilateralism in order to end the conflict, which is in line with the proposal that Morocco has always advocated, which is to involve Algeria in the negotiations, because the first meaning is artificial conflict.The professor of political science at the American International University in Kuwait further confirmed that‘Staffan de Mistura’s steps are aimed at initiating political negotiations in Geneva, but I don’t think they will resume now, finally, until he has succeeded in persuading Algeria to assume its responsibility before the international community by participating in round tables, which Algiers refuses.
And the political scientist went on to say that ‘more than 37 UN Security Council resolutions since 2007 have never mentioned the word referendum, since these decisions expressly indicate that Algeria is a party concerned by this issue. Its game is unveiled, and the importance of the Algerian role is evident in this file where Algiers is fully involved‘. Yasmine Hasnaoui went on to say that ‘Staffan de Mistura’s task will be difficult due to Algeria’s refusal, along with the Polisario, to attend direct political meetings, but the UN envoy is expected to step up meetings with parties concerned and not affected by the conflict, especially with international parties and the UN Security Council‘. The international expert concluded her intervention by stressing that ‘the UN envoy to the Moroccan Sahara must not rely on the African Union, which Algeria and the Polisario are looking for, but the file must remain with the Security Council, because the African Union does not has never supported the United Nations in resolving the conflict.
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