The Special Envoy in charge of the issue of Western Sahara and the Maghreb countries, Amar Belani, held talks today, Wednesday in Algiers, with the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in charge of the Western Sahara issue, Staffan de Mistura, who is on a working visit to Algeria at the end of his first tour in the region, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national community abroad.
During the talks, “the Algerian delegation reiterated Algeria’s principled position, both with regard to the core issue or its aspects related to the form, focusing mainly on the necessity of resuming, as soon as favorable conditions are met, direct negotiations in good faith and without preconditions between the two parties to the conflict (the Polisario Front and Morocco) as referred to in the Security Council regulations,” the statement adds.
The same source affirmed that “in the same context, the Heads of State and Government of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union called on March 09, 2021, the two member states, Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, to engage in direct and frank negotiations without any preconditions, in accordance with Article 4 of the African Union’s founding charter. “.
Meanwhile, Belani laid emphasis on the necessity to take into consideration the urgent need for the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, regardless of the adopted processes.
The Algerian delegation also focused on the importance of activating and reviving the joint settlement plan of 1991 (the United Nations – the Organization of African Unity), as it is the only agreement accepted by the two parties to the conflict and ratified by the Security Council twice.
For his part, the UN Special Envoy presented, “in general, the parameters of his mandate aimed at reviving the political process that is witnessing a stalemate due to the intransigence of the Moroccan party, which continues to put obstacles and impossible conditions to carry on its de facto colonial policy.” according to the same source.
