UN reiterates commitment to help find negotiated solution to issue of Western Sahara

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday reiterated the UN's commitment to help Morocco and the French Polisario to seek negotiated solution to the long- standing issue of Western Sahara in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. The secretary-general made the statement in a meeting here with Mohammed Abdelaziz, the secretary-general of the Frente Polisario, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here. "The secretary-general reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to assisting Morocco and the Frente Polisario to negotiate a solution to their long-standing dispute over the future status of Western Sahara in accordance with UN resolutions," Nesirky said. "These call for a mutually acceptable agreement, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. " During the meeting, Ban "encouraged the Frente Polisario to remain constructively engaged with his personal envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, who has called on both parties to demonstrate flexibility and creativity in working toward a solution," said the spokesman. Ross, the former U.S. ambassador to Algeria and Syria, was appointed on Jan. 7, 2009 as the UN secretary-general's personal envoy to Western Sahara. Before this appointment, he was a special adviser for the Middle East and North Africa at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. "The secretary-general underlined his continued strong interest in respect for human rights in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps," Nesirky said. "He also expressed his concern over the increasing frustration and vulnerability that the absence of a settlement and the instability of the Sahel region have produced among young people in the refugee camps near Tindouf." Meanwhile, Ban commended the Frente Polisario's continuing commitment to the path of dialogue, Nesirky said. The United Nations has been involved in efforts to find a settlement in Western Sahara since 1976, when fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario after the Spanish colonial administration of the territory ended. Morocco has presented a plan for autonomy, but the Frente Polisario believes that the territory's final status should be decided in a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.