KUNA kw
France on Wednesday reiterated its full support for a UN-brokered solution to the conflict opposing Morocco and the Western Sahara factions, who are seeking independence for the disputed territory.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian received Wednesday the new UN envoy for the Western Sahara Horst Kohler, a German national, to discuss the situation.
Kohler, who took up his mission last August, is touring capitals to brief on his next steps to move forward with talks on the Western Sahara.
Le Drian’s office said that Paris was fully behind the new envoy and also behind the UN deployment in the region, which monitors refugees and the overall environment there.
France expressed “attachment to the full respect of the cease-fire accords” between the militant Polisario group and the Moroccan army.
Paris also supports efforts to find a “fair and mutually agreed solution in the Western Sahara in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions.” Moreover, the French Foreign Ministry said that it felt that the Moroccan autonomy plan put forward in 2007 was “a serious and credible basis” for achieving a solution to the conflict. (end) jk.sd
