De Mistura meets Algeria foreign minister over Western Sahara talks

Staffan de Mistura, the UN secretary-general's personal envoy for Western Sahara, held talks on Monday in Algiers with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

According to a statement issued by Algeria's Foreign Ministry, the meeting provided an opportunity to review efforts aimed at advancing the political process on Western Sahara and finding a mutually acceptable solution to the conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the right to self-determination.

During the talks, Attaf stressed «the importance of entering negotiations without preconditions» and called for the creation of favorable conditions for direct talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front in order to reach what he described as a «just, lasting and definitive» solution to the dispute.

The Algerian foreign minister also underscored «the central role» of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in maintaining regional stability. Algiers is closely monitoring the planned strategic review of MINURSO's mandate, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2797, adopted on October 31.

The meeting came a week after de Mistura traveled to the Tindouf camps, where he held talks on June 8 with Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. The UN envoy subsequently met in Oslo with Massad Boulos, U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser for African and Arab affairs.