King Mohammed VI Meets UN Envoy for Sahara

King Mohammed VI received on Tuesday at the royal palace in Rabat the personnel envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Sahara, Horst Köhler, who visited Morocco as part of a regional tour including Tindouf, Algiers and Nouakchott.

Horst Köhler, a former president of Germany, also met Prime Minister Saâdeddine El Othmani and Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

Köhler’s tour, his first since he took up his functions early September, seeks to unlock talks on the regional dispute over the Sahara.

After his tour and contacts in the region, the UN envoy will report back to the UN Security Council on October 24.

He was appointed last August by UNSG Antonio Guterres as his new personal envoy for the Sahara in replacement of Christopher Ross, whose tenure failed to score any breakthroughs in negotiations on the Sahara issue.

Talks on the regional dispute have actually been in a deadlock for years, but analysts are expecting Köhler, who boasts more than 35 years of experience in government and international organizations, to lead UN mediation with pragmatism.