The UN Security Council extended on Wednesday the mandate of the
United Nations mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for six months
until the end of April 2008.
In a unanimously adopted resolution, the council called on both
Morocco and the Frente Polisario "to continue to show political
will and work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue in order to
engage in substantive negotiations."
Morocco and the Polisario held two rounds of UN-sponsored
exploratory talks just outside New York, in June and August, but
failed to bridge the wide gap between their respective
positions.
The 15-member council urged the two sides to continue
UN-brokered negotiations without preconditions and in good faith
with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable
political solution.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his latest report on
Western Sahara, said the two sides held mutually exclusive
positions that prevented them from seriously discussing each
other's proposal during the talks.
Ban recommended a six-month extension of the mandate of MINURSO,
which has been in the territory since 1991 to monitor the cease-
fire between the two sides.
(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2007)
