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UN Secretary-General Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Horst Köhler is about to impose the relaunch of direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario. The decision was part of the final version of the draft resolution submitted on Western Sahara.
The Security Council «has taken note of the four rounds of negotiations held under the auspices of the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon between June 2007 and March 2008) and recognizes the need of the parties to honor their commitments by pursuing the negotiation process without preconditions and in good faith», wrote the authors of the draft resolution in the 13th paragraph.
Later, the Security Council stressed that «it is important for the parties involved to relaunch the political process by preparing for the 5th round of negotiations».
This unmistakable call shows that Köhler succeeded in convincing the Security Council including members of the «Western Sahara Friends Club» to support his vision and thus his way of dealing with the territorial dispute.
What would Morocco do as it refuses to have direct negotiations with the Polisario ?
Köhler’s call is unlikely to please the Moroccan party. On several occasions, they have vigorously rejected the proposal suggesting that the kingdom should sit for direct negotiations with the Polisario. This refusal was expressed by Morocco in the person of Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his colleague government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi.
The ball is in the Moroccan court which has less than twenty-four hours to reverse the trend and win back. Once the last version of the draft resolution is adopted by the Security Council, Köhler will openly call the Kingdom to join direct negotiations with the Front.
Eight months after his appointment as Secretary-General's personal envoy for Western Sahara, the former German president is erasing the efforts made by Christopher Ross in the last eight years and his nine «informal meetings».
