Sahara: UN worries by the escalation of tension between Morocco and Polisario

NEW YORK (UN) - The current escalation of tension between Morocco and the Polisario Front in Western Sahara is a source of concern for the United Nations, the Organization said Monday in a statement.

• The Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki-moon, “is concerned by the growing tension between the negotiating parties on the future of Western Sahara, which has increased due to the recent detention of several groups of Saharawi activists and the situation of Ms. Haidar,” the militant pro-Polisario, the statement said.
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• Mr. Ban says the text, “urged both parties to continue to cooperate with his personal envoy, Christopher Ross, to try to schedule a new round of talks and seek to move forward together towards a mutually acceptable political solution”.
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• Four rounds of talks on Western Sahara held in Manhasset, a suburb of New York between Morocco and the Polisario, under the auspices of the UN have failed to reconcile points of view.
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• Former Spanish colony, Western Sahara was annexed in 1975 by Morocco, which advocates extensive autonomy under its sovereignty. The Saharawi independence movement (Polisario) backed by Algeria, calls for self-determination referendum in which independence is one of the options.
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• Ennaharonline/ M. O.