Sahara: Washington reiterates its support for UN Envoy de Mistura

The UN Secretary General’s personal envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, was in Rabat on Thursday, where he started his first tour of the region since taking office in November 2021.

Reiterating its support for the UN envoy, the Biden administration, part of the continuity of the American recognition, in December 2020, of the Moroccanness of the Sahara, welcomed this tour, as well as the efforts of Staffan de Mistura to relaunch “a credible political process” leading to a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara conflict.

“We welcome Staffan de Mistura’s first visit to the region as the Personal Envoy of the @UN SG for Western Sahara. We support his efforts in restarting a credible political process leading to an enduring and mutually acceptable political solution to the Western Sahara conflict,” the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department said in a tweet.

The Embassy of the United States in Rabat relayed the same tweet, and welcomed on its part De Mistura’s tour which, it hoped, would contribute to a relaunch of the process of settling this regional dispute.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had endeavored to accelerate the appointment process of a successor to the German Horst Köhler, who had resigned for health reasons. The appointment process had been stalled for several months.

He had raised the issue on March 29, 2021, during his first meeting, by videoconference, with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. He had then reaffirmed “the support of the United States for the political negotiations and urged the Secretary General (of the UN) to activate the appointment of a personal envoy” for the Sahara.

Morocco has reaffirmed Thursday its willingness to negotiate a UN solution to the Sahara within the exclusive UN framework and on the basis of the autonomy plan while stressing the need for the participation of Algeria as a party to the round table process.

This came during the meeting held in Rabat by the UN envoy with Moroccan minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita.

De Mistura’s tour in Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania is part of the implementation of Security Council resolution 2602 which called on all parties to the conflict to pursue the round table process in a spirit of realism and compromise with a view to achieving a realistic, feasible and lasting political solution.