Morocco and Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement ended a third round of talks near New York City on Wednesday without narrowing differences on Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute.
But United Nations mediator Peter van Valsum said the sides had agreed to meet again from March 11 to 13 at the same location in the town of Manhasset, New York, for further talks on the rival plans they offered last April on the territory’s future.
”During the two days of discussions, the parties continued to express strong differences on the fundamental questions at stake,” Van Valsum said in a statement.
Polisario, which is based in Morocco’s regional rival Algeria, said last month the third round was a last chance and war might resume if no accord was reached on whether Western Sahara should be independent or autonomous within Morocco.
But in a statement after the talks, Polisario delegation leader Mahfoud Ali Beiba made no mention of renewing armed conflict and welcomed the plan for more negotiations.
Morocco took control of most of Western Sahara in 1975 when colonial power Spain withdrew, prompting a guerrilla war for independence that lasted until 1991 when the United Nations brokered a ceasefire and sent in peacekeepers.
The desert territory of 260 000 on Africa’s Atlantic coast holds phosphates, rich fisheries and potentially offshore oil.
North African countries are under pressure to settle their differences in order to better deal with growing violence by al-Qaeda-linked radical Islamists. Algeria has suffered a series of deadly suicide bombings since early last year, the latest on December 11 killing 37 people, including 17 UN staff in Algiers.
Autonomy or independence
Rabat is trying to persuade Polisario to accept its plan for Western Sahara to be an autonomous part of Morocco. Polisario proposes a referendum among ethnic Sahrawis that includes an option of independence.
No state recognises Morocco’s rule over Western Sahara but the Security Council is divided. Some nonaligned states back Polisario, but France and the United States support Morocco.
In his statement, Beiba reaffirmed Polisario’s demand for a referendum and said it ”calls on the Moroccan side to abandon the policy of fait accompli and to renounce its will to impose a unilateral solution”.
But Morocco’s chief delegate, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa, accused Polisario of ”rigid and outdated positions” and said the deadlock ”will jeopardise peace and security in a region that remains threatened by … terrorism and instability.”
At a news conference, he also called on Algeria to play a more active role in finding a settlement. ”We are convinced that Algeria must genuinely take part in seeking a consensual and political solution,” he said.
Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri made clear Morocco ruled out a referendum. ”The real political, strategic choice today is between an opportunity represented by autonomy, real and substantial, and the status quo,” he told the news conference.
Van Walsum said the two sides had discussed, but not agreed on, confidence-building measures, which UN officials said included visits between family members divided by the conflict.
He also said he would visit the region shortly for ”in-depth consultations”.
Moroccan officials said they expected him to visit Morocco and Algeria, including the refugee camps around the Algerian town of Tindouf where Polisario is based. – Reuters