The UN Security Council president Karel van Oosterom (Netherlands) said on Wednesday members of the Security Council are concerned about the situation in Guerguerat, and stress the need to uphold the status quo of the buffer strip and to fully respect UN resolution 2351 (April 2017). According to UN Security Council president Karel van Oosterom, the UN Chief “remains deeply concerned about the continued presence of armed elements of the Polisario in this region”. In his report circulated to the members of the Security Council in April 2017, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had demanded the complete and immediate withdrawal of the Polisario from the Guerguerat buffer strip. The MINURSO chief has thus avoided falling in the trap set by the Polisario, which was attempting to make him endorse “a change of the status quo”. The Security Council also expressed “full support” for the efforts of the former German president to “revive the negotiation process through a new dynamic and a new spirit”.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 22, 2018 12:45 UTC