The U.N. envoy to Western Sahara is suggesting that dividing the territory between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front could be one way to settle the decades-long conflict.
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The idea of partition isn't new. In a never-enacted agreement, Mauritania ceded the southern part of Western Sahara to Polisario when it withdrew in 1979. Former envoy James Baker floated partition more than two decades ago. Partition along historic lines would place Laayoune — the disputed territority's largest city — in the north, and Dakhla — its second largest — in the south. Though it could allow both Moroccan autonomy over some of the land and Sahrawi independence, it satisfies neither side's long-standing conditions. Morocco's position is to not negotiate on the disputed territory's sovereignty and Polisario's position is to demand self-determination via a referendum.
The absence of progress, he said, “might rightly raise questions as to the future modalities of the United Nations facilitation of the political process on Western Sahara” and lead him to suggest to the Security Council to reassess “whether there is space and willingness for us to still be useful.”
James Baker Staffan De Mistura
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