chargement...
A delegation of American diplomats and military officials visited Laâyoune on Monday, engaging in discussions with Alexander Ivanko, head of MINURSO, about potentially reducing the personnel of this UN mission in the Sahara.
«The American delegation, which included senior State Department officials overseeing UN peacekeeping operations globally, pressed Ivanko to advance his policy of downsizing the mission's staff, a strategy that has been in motion for several months», a Moroccan source revealed to Yabiladi.
This source indicated that the Trump administration's approach could affect the civilian and political components of MINURSO, potentially leaving only peacekeepers to oversee the ceasefire between the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and the Polisario.
It's important to remember that Morocco expelled 83 members of MINURSO's political unit in March 2016, following former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's contentious visit to the Tindouf camps in Algeria.
On August 2, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his support for Morocco's claim over the Sahara in a message to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the throne day. Trump endorsed the autonomy plan proposed by Rabat in 2007, effectively dismissing the notion of a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara.
