The Polisario has officially agreed on the appointment of Staffan de Mistura, as the UN Secretary-General’s new personal envoy to Western Sahara. The decision was announced, Thursday, by the Front’s representative in Algiers Abdelkader Taleb Omar and communicated to the UN on April 29.
He claimed that the delay in appointing the diplomat would be linked to the kingdom, reports the same source.
«Morocco has given its agreement to the appointment of a new envoy (...) and has given the green light to the proposals made, in this sense, by the Secretary General of the UN», stressed the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita, during a press briefing held on April 5 in Dakhla. For his part, Antonio Guterres revealed earlier in May that the parties rejected 12 candidates.
On Wednesday, May 19, Jalina Porter, spokeswoman for the US Department of State said she has nothing new to communicate to journalists on the regional dispute.
The post of UN envoy to the Sahara has been vacant since May 22, 2019, following Köhler's resignation for health reasons.