UN calls for restraint after MINURSO mandate ends
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on La Nouvelle Tribune
After MINURSO's mandate expired on 31 October, the UN called on Morocco and the Polisario Front to avoid any action worsening tensions in the Sahara. The Security Council adopted neither the US draft, blocked by a Russian veto, nor the Russian extension draft, according to the UN.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix called on Morocco and the Polisario Front to avoid any initiative likely to aggravate tensions in the Sahara after MINURSO's mandate expired on 31 October. He made the appeal during a press conference, according to La Nouvelle Tribune.
Russia vetoed the American draft resolution, which provided for redirecting the mission towards an autonomy solution under Moroccan sovereignty. The Russian draft seeking to extend MINURSO's mandate by one year did not obtain the nine votes required in the UN Security Council, meaning that neither text was adopted, La Nouvelle Tribune reports.
The ceasefire concluded in 1991 between Morocco and the Polisario Front was broken in November 2020. Low-intensity clashes have been reported in the region since then, while MINURSO continued to monitor the situation, according to La Nouvelle Tribune.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix described the end of the mission's mandate as “somewhat unexpected”. He said the UN was working with the Department of Operational Support to organise the mission's liquidation. The announcement comes after the Polisario contested the halt to MINURSO operations on 1 November, amid a mandate ending.
