Morocco, rebels hold talks

2008-01-07 12:00

Gerard Aziakou

New York - Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front resume United Nations-sponsored talks on the disputed Western Sahara on Monday amid warnings that failure to clinch a deal could lead to renewed fighting.

UN spokesperson Michele Montas confirmed on Friday that a third round of closed-door discussions would be held in the New York suburb of Manhasset from Monday through Wednesday to try to resolve the 32-year dispute.

As in the two previous exploratory rounds held last year at the same location, the secluded Greentree estate in Manhasset, UN envoy for Western Sahara Peter Van Walsum would serve as mediator.

The two rounds held in June and August failed to narrow wide differences between Rabat and the Polisario independence movement.

'We hope Morocco is going to cooperate'

And diplomats said they did not anticipate any breakthrough this time around either. Last month, the Algerian-backed Polisario warned it would resume its armed struggle against Morocco if negotiations failed.

"We hope that Morocco this time is going to cooperate for the full implementation" of UN resolutions on the issue and "will engage in substantive negotiations," Ahmed Bujari, the Polisario's UN representative, said.

He said the Moroccans must agree to discuss not just their proposal for broad autonomy for the Western Sahara, but also the Polisario's call for a referendum that would include the option of independence for the former Spanish colony.

"Our people have been frustrated (in their aspiration for independence)," he said. We believe peace is possible... But a new failure of the (negotiation) process would have negative consequences for the entire (northwest African) region)."

He added: "It could push us on the way to a resumption of hostilities and Morocco will be responsible."

Self-determination referendum

Last October, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to urge the two sides to resume stalled talks "without preconditions" to settle their 32-year dispute over the Western Sahara.

It passed a resolution calling on the parties to "engage in substantive negotiations ... without preconditions and in good faith ... with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution".

Morocco annexed the phosphate-rich, mainly desert Western Sahara in the 1970s after the withdrawal of colonial power, Spain, sparking a war with the Polisario guerrillas.

The two sides agreed a ceasefire in 1991, but a promised self-determination referendum never materialised and since 2002 Rabat had insisted that holding such a plebiscite was no longer realistic.

In a separate development, Morocco and Senegal announced on Friday the return of their ambassadors to their respective posts after a dispute over Western Sahara.

The spat began last month, after former Senegalese minister Jacques Baudin lauded Polisario Front rebels who were fighting Moroccan forces.

- AFP