UNSC divided on Western Sahara resolution

The Security Council, which met Tuesday to examine the US draft resolution on Western Sahara, has not reached consensus as first discussions revealed great divergences between the members.
The draft resolution aiming to boost negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco has been submitted in a first step to the group of friends of Western Sahara at the Security Council. The proposals mentioned in the draft resolution did not reach consensus among members, particularly the proposal to immediately withdraw the Polisario Front from Al Guergarat zone.
In the face of many members’ refusal to pass a biased resolution, the US delegation at the UN Security Council has submitted this draft resolution to the rest of the UN Security Council members but negotiations remain tight before its adoption on Thursday.
Russia called the text unbalanced while Uruguay said it did not refer to the cause of Al Guergarat crisis, namely the violation by Morocco of the ceasefire agreement in this area monitored by the Minurso.
“Morocco and France requested Polisario Front’s immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Al Guergarat area,” Representative of the Polisario Front at the UN Ahmed Boukhari told APS.
As regards Al Guergarat, “the draft resolution had to tackle the cause and consequences of the crisis,” said Boukhari.
“The violation of the ceasefire provisions was the cause of the crisis and jeopardizes the peace process in Western Sahara,” he stated.