Bourita in unannounced visit to Nouakchott after end of MINURSO mandate

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita reportedly made an unannounced visit to Nouakchott in recent days, where he is said to have met several Mauritanian officials, according to sources cited by the Mauritanian agency Al-Akhbar.

These consultations reportedly focused on the latest regional developments, particularly the Sahara question, in a context marked by the end of MINURSO's mandate on 31 October. That deadline came after the failure of two draft resolutions at the UN Security Council, amid differences between Washington and Moscow. With no agreement on an extension, the UN mission began the gradual withdrawal of its personnel and equipment from 1 November.

Nouakchott's position is all the more closely watched as Mauritania defends a "positive neutrality", saying it wants to contribute to settling the dispute rather than becoming a party to it. On 21 October, after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, the government spokesman and Minister of Culture, Arts, Communication and Relations with Parliament, Mohamed Ould Bebana, ruled out any official territorial claim by his country, in response to questions about the northern borders and the status of Lagouira. "We have no dispute with any neighbouring country, particularly in our northern neighbourhood," he said.

This visit is part of a series of diplomatic and military exchanges between Rabat and Nouakchott, a few days after the end of MINURSO's mandate and Rabat's decision to maintain the ceasefire in the Sahara. It comes less than two weeks after Nasser Bourita's meeting with Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on 28 October.