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The UN Security Council voted, Wednesday, a resolution on Western Sahara, extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) by 12 months. The decision did not go unnoticed by both Morocco and the Polisario Front, which separately reacted to the new resolution.
On Wednesday, Morocco's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Omar Hilale voiced the country’s satisfaction over resolution 2494. Speaking to reporters, the diplomat stressed that for the first time the UN sees talks as a «way» in which the four participants (Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario) must be engaged.
He stressed that this resolution enshrined and reinforced «the positive momentum generated by the two round tables in Geneva, which have once again been welcomed by the Security Council». He added that this momentum has paved the way for the resumption, by the next personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General, of the political process where the former personal envoy Horst Koehler has stopped.
Omar Hilale also described the resolution as «more than a mere technical renewal» of the MINURSO mandate because it «affirms, reinforces and embodies the fundamental parameters» of a political solution.
The Polisario's disappointment
While Morocco welcomed the resolution, the Polisario Front could not hide its disappointment regarding it. Wednesday evening, the separatist movement considered that the adoption of this resolution is «a deeply regrettable and unacceptable return to ‘business as usual’» and a «serious blow to the political momentum that the Security Council built and maintained over the past 18 months».
For the Front, the new resolution brings no «concrete actions to advance the UN peace process».
«By failing to follow through on its commitment to end the status quo and demand that Morocco terminate its illegal occupation of Western Sahara, the Security Council has missed another opportunity to prevent the UN peace process from collapsing».
«Despite Morocco’s intransigence obstructionism and blackmail», the movement of Brahim Ghali recalls that it has «consistently exercised restraint» and «tremendous concessions» so that the UN peace process could advance. «We reserve our legitimate right to act in response to all destabilising actions by Morocco, the occupying power in Western Sahara», the Front argued.
The Polisario Front's reaction to the new resolution shows the disappointment of Brahim Ghali and his supporters. It seems like the movement is running out of means to put pressure on the Security Council after the letter it sent to the members of the UN body last week to call for the closure of the border crossing of El Guergarate.
The Front’s threats come as the Tindouf camps are expected to host in December the 15th congress of the Polisario secretariat.
