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Scheduled for mid-February, the UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara’s long-awaited tour in the region has not taken place yet. This comes as the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to present his report on the Western Sahara dispute in March or April before the members of the Security Council.
In principle, Guterres must present in his report new developments on the territorial dispute and not deliver the same elements mentioned by the former German President in his previous briefing that was held behind-closed-doors on January the 29th.
«There is a good chance that the tour of the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy will not take place. On the other hand, he might convene representatives from Morocco and the Polisario separately to meetings in Berlin by the end of February», a well-informed source told Yabiladi on Wednesday.
A change and questions
This change, announced by Horst Köhler during a meeting at the Security Council, is likely to raise questions. For the record, the former German President announced, on January the 29th at the Security Council, that he plans to convene a second round of talks in March between the four parties.
During the same meeting, Köhler said that he will conduct direct and bilateral meetings with the four parties during the month of February, referring to Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania.
«This change is, probably, driven by the situation in the Tindouf camps», the same source said, explaining that «people protest in front of the Rabouni camp against the disappearance of El Khalil Ahmed, who went missing since 2009, almost daily».
«While this case embarrasses the movement of Brahim Ghali, the Front wouldn’t allow El Khalili’s family to meet Köhler and talk to him about their missing son», the same source added.
Meanwhile, Algeria is ready to receive the UN personal envoy to Western Sahara. In fact, the Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia received, Tuesday, the Mauritanian Minister of Culture and Handicrafts, the official spokesman of the government, Mohamed Ould Maham, who is also the country’s special envoy.
A few hours earlier, Ould Maham met with the Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel. During this visit, the Mauritanian Minister was carrying a message from by president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
