Julian Harston, the former United Nations Special Representative and head of the MINURSO mission between 2007 and 2009, has publicly called for the permanent closure of the peacekeeping operation, describing it as outdated and arguing that autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only viable solution to the Western Sahara dispute.
In a LinkedIn post published shortly after the mission’s mandate expired on 31 October 2026, Harston wrote that MINURSO “should be closed.
It is anachronistic, he said, adding that “ it belongs to another era.”
He stated that nearly all the requirements of its original mandate are no longer relevant and that “there was never a real possibility of organizing a referendum.”
Harston further asserted that the 1991 ceasefire “was never accepted by the Polisario, nor indeed by Algeria.”
He accused Algeria of acting as a consistent spoiler throughout the decades, “simply taking every opportunity to oppose while keeping thousands of Sahrawis hostage under intolerable conditions under an aged leadership.”
“The autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the unique solution. The international community supports that.
The UN should do the same,” Harston concluded.
Harston’s remarks come days after the UN Security Council failed to renew MINURSO’s mandate following competing US and Russian draft resolutions that were both blocked.
The mission has since entered a liquidation phase.
Harston’s tenure as head of MINURSO coincided with Morocco’s formal presentation of its autonomy initiative to the United Nations in 2007, a plan that has since gained increasing international backing.
