Western Sahara
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A report is due by 31 January on the talks convened by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, involving Morocco and the Polisario. It seems that an advanced copy was circulated to Council members on 28 January. The Council is likely to discuss this report in informal consultations during February.
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The mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is due to expire on 31 October. The Secretary-General is expected to recommend renewal for a further six months, and the Council is likely to agree.
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Western Sahara appears to have entered a new phase. Direct talks between Morocco and the Polisario have resumed in June, following Council resolution 1754. They mark an historic opportunity, and the Council is likely to encourage these negotiations to produce positive results. Finding the right mix of support and pressure for the parties to engage will be an ongoing challenge.
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The Group of Friends of Western Sahara (France, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US) are discussing the report of the Secretary-General on the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the unveiling last week by Morocco and the Polisario Front of their respective proposals for a solution for Western Sahara.
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The mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expires on 31 April. The Council is expected to renew it for six months and to discuss the report of the Secretary-General on MINURSO, which is due mid-April. The Council might also discuss a Moroccan plan for extended autonomy to Western Sahara.
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The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which expires on 31 October. Referred to in the Secretary-General's report of 19 April (S/2006/249), the recommendations of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, on a political solution are still on the table and may be reiterated in the upcoming report. However, given the other pressures on the Council's time at present, major new developments seem unlikely.
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The adoption by the Council, on 28 April, of a simple "technical rollover" (S/RES/1675) continuing the mandate for MINURSO could be read, at face value, as a reiteration of the status quo and a retreat from the Secretary-General's recommendations and from the approach of his Personal Envoy, Peter van Walsum.
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The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), due to expire on 30 April, for an additional six months.
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In January, the Council will be briefed by the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, as requested in Security Council resolution 1634 (28 October 2005), which also extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 30 April 2006.
