UN chief urges Algeria to take part in resolving Sahara dispute

NEW YORK - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reaffirmed, in his report to the Security Council on the Sahara issue published on Thursday, the fundamentals of the UN political process, as advocated by the Security Council in all its resolutions since 2018.

Guterres said he was "convinced" that a political solution to the Sahara issue was possible, adding that the UN remained ready to convene "all concerned" by the Sahara issue with a view to achieving a "political solution" in accordance with Security Council resolutions since 2018.

He called on "all concerned to urgently seize" the opportunity offered by the efforts of his personal envoy Staffan de Mistura, noting that “a strong political will is needed to find a just political solution, sustainable and mutually acceptable in accordance with resolutions 2440 (2018), 2468 (2019), 2494 (2019), 2548 (2020) and 2602 (2021).”

Guterres also urged all parties concerned to approach the political process, in this case the round tables established by Security Council resolutions since 2018, with "an open mind and to renounce the preconditions for the political process," calling for “taking into account the precedents set by previous personal envoys under existing Security Council resolutions” in current and future approaches.

The UN chief highlighted the role of Minurso, which "represents the commitment of the United Nations and the international community to a political, just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the conflict in the Sahara, in accordance to resolutions 2440 (2018), 2468 (2019), 2494 (2019), 2548 (2020) and 2602 (2021)”.

In his report, the UN Secretary General four times disavowed Algeria:

1- He called for the participation of "all those concerned" in the political process, enshrining Algeria's full and entire responsibility in this regional dispute, and reaffirming the Security Council resolutions which cite Algeria on 5 occasions as main party in the Sahara file, defeating Algeria's fallacious claim of "both parties."

2- He noted that the resolutions of the Security Council since 2018 are the only basis for the political solution. These resolutions call exclusively for a political, realistic, pragmatic, lasting and compromise solution to this regional dispute and enshrine the pre-eminence of the autonomy initiative.

3- He called for the resumption of the process of round tables established by UNSC resolutions since 2018, with the participation of "all those concerned". This is a direct call to order to Algeria, which refuses to resume its place around the round tables.

4- He clarified the mandate of MINURSO in support of the political solution on the basis of the resolutions since 2018, definitively ruling out the so-called referendum, rehashed by Algeria and the separatist "Polisario Front" and buried by the UN chief and the Security Council for more than two decades.

Thus, by insisting on the resolutions of the Security Council since 2018, Guterres is rightly demolishing all outdated proposals and dead and buried plans. He also confirms that the process of round tables, with the participation of "all concerned", by the question of the Sahara, including Algeria, is the only way to move forward, with a view to achieving a political, realistic, sustainable, pragmatic solution to this regional dispute.