HIBAPRESS
The personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, called for making autonomy the basis of future negotiations, considering that the Moroccan proposal constitutes a "solid foundation" for discussion, at a time when he described the political process as having reached a "dead end."
De Mistura stated in a briefing to the Council on October 8 that Morocco had submitted an expanded 39-page autonomy project, but it requires further negotiation. He pointed out that five years of efforts and three high-level rounds in Washington and Madrid during the first quarter of the current year had not succeeded in overcoming differences, due to a lack of trust, the Polisario Front's lack of serious engagement in discussing the proposal, and the complexity of the issues at hand.
The UN envoy affirmed that any settlement should be based on effective autonomy that grants the people of the Sahara real powers in managing their affairs, ensures broad political and institutional participation, along with strong international guarantees, and creates conditions for the return of refugees and the involvement of the Polisario and other Sahrawis in the region's administration. He stressed that this option cannot be imposed on the population.
De Mistura revealed an initiative, in cooperation with the UNHCR, to organize voluntary visits for Sahrawi refugees to Laayoune and Dakhla to observe conditions and discuss the autonomy proposal. He noted that the Polisario had expressed, in a response dated September 14, its readiness to cooperate with the UNHCR to facilitate the initiative.
The UN envoy called for coordinated and good-faith negotiations after the upcoming Security Council resolution, urging the Polisario to study the Moroccan proposal, seek clarifications on it, and suggest amendments, without requiring its prior acceptance. He expressed hope that this step would be taken before the end of the year, emphasizing that reaching a settlement requires "historic flexibility and political courage" from both the Moroccan and Polisario sides.
