In a communiqué issued Tuesday after the talks, United Nations Secretary general's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Peter van Walsum said the parties had agreed to continue their negotiations in Manhasset in the second week of August.
Earlier, U.N Secretary General's Spokesperson Michèle Montas described as "very difficult" these talks held June 18-19, at the Manhasset Greentree Estate, an exclusive venue on the outskirts of New York City, used by the United Nations Secretary General and various UN agency heads for retreats and high-level meetings.
"At this stage, it is the beginning of long process. It's not going to be an easy process (and) at this point we don’t know what part of the process will be reflected in the Secretary General’s report to the security council,” scheduled for June 30, she said. “We are now talking about very difficult negotiations and as I say the beginning of the process.”
These talks were carried out under U.N. auspices, and facilitated by the Mr. Walsum. They were also attended by representatives form neighboring Algeria and Mauritania who were “consulted separately.”
Monday’s opening session was attended by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe who said that the talks marked the beginning of a new phase in the search for a solution on Sahara. He urged the parties to proceed in good faith and to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust, and expressed the firm commitment of the United Nations to assist in the negotiations. The U.N. official also stressed that the stalemate is becoming intolerable and that the dispute over Western Sahara must be brought to a conclusion through a mutually agreed solution.
“The time has come for a solution. We wish you the best of luck, and reiterate our commitment to assist this process in every way possible," Pascoe told the meeting.
The first round of these talks were held in accordance with Security Council resolution 1754 which called on parties to enter into negotiation “without preconditions and in good faith.”
The Moroccan delegation to these talks was led by Minister for the Interior Chakib Benmoussa who underlined the need to reach a political solution to the 32-year old dispute over the former Spanish colony that was ceded by Spain to the North African country by virtue of the 1975 Madrid Accords. He made it clear that the Moment of truth has come for both parties to tackle the issue with “good faith”.
“The moment of truth has come. There can be no more hesitation, prevarication, obduracy, manoeuvring or tendentious interpretations.”, said Chakib Benmoussa.
The Moroccan delegation included Deputy Foreign Minister, Taieb Fassi Fihri, Deputy Interior Minister, Fouad Ali Al Himma, chairman of the Royal Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), Khalihenna Ould Errachid, head of Morocco’s Intelligence (DGED), Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, and Morocco’s ambassador to the U.N. El Mostafa Sahel).
SOURCE( www.corcas.com)
