UN renews mandate of Western Sahara mission for a year

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Wednesday renewed the mandate of its MINURSO mission in Western Sahara amid "frustration" on the part of the Polisario Front, which wants independence for the disputed region.

The resolution extending the mission for a year was drafted by the United States and received 13 votes in favour with abstentions by Russia and South Africa.

"We regret that the council has unfortunately returned to business as usual," Sidi Omar, the Polisario Front's representative at the UN, told journalists prior to the vote.

"We deeply regret that we have lost the momentum that was created over the past 18 months," Omar added.

After a long break, the UN-led dialogue between Morocco, Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania resumed in Switzerland in December 2018, followed by a second round in March of this year, but no breakthrough was made.

There is also no longer a UN envoy for Western Sahara since the resignation in May of former German president Horst Kohler.

After the vote, the United States called for the appointment of a new envoy "as soon as possible."

Omar also urged the secretary-general to make the appointment, saying Morocco had "already put on the table a set of pre-conditions which have limited the scope of possible candidates."

"Our people have almost lost all faith in this process," Omar said, adding that the Polisario Front would decide by the end of December whether or not to continue its involvement in the negotiations, and suggesting that there was a risk of the conflict resuming.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, and fought a war with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front from 1975 to 1991, when a ceasefire deal was agreed.

The UN mission was deployed to monitor the truce and prepare a referendum on Western Sahara's independence from Morocco, but it never materialized.

The UN resolution approved on Wednesday does not differ from previous versions except that the term of renewal is a year instead of six months.

That change is due to the absence of the UN envoy, a US official said, adding that time was needed for an appointment and to relaunch the political process.

In 2018, against the advice of France and Morocco, Washington opposed a six-month term of renewal for MINURSO in a bid to pressure all sides, with then-national security advisor John Bolton even threatening to abolish the UN mission.