SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS UN MISSION IN WESTERN SAHARA FOR ANOTHER YEAR

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS UN MISSION IN WESTERN SAHARA FOR ANOTHER YEAR New York, May 1 2008 2:00AM The Security Council today extended until 30 April 2009 the mandate of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minurso/index.html">MINURSO), tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between Morocco and the Frente Polisario and organizing a referendum on self-determination.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council called on the parties to enter into "a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations" to resolve their long-running dispute.

Morocco holds that its sovereignty over Western Sahara should be recognized, while the Frente Polisario's position is that the Territory's final status should be decided in a referendum that includes independence as an option.

In his recent report on the issue, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote that while he welcomed the commitment of the two parties -- outlined in a communiqué issued after UN-led talks held in March -- to continue their negotiations, so far there was no sign of any breakthrough in the dispute.

"Momentum can only be maintained by trying to find a way out of the current political impasse through realism and a spirit of compromise from both parties," he stated, a view endorsed by the Council in the resolution adopted today.

UN-sponsored talks on the issue are facilitated by Peter van Walsum, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, and include representatives of neighbouring States, Algeria and Mauritania.

The Council called on the parties to continue with negotiations without preconditions and in good faith, "with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution."

2008-04-30 00:00:00.000

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