Manhasset (New York outskirts) – Next informal talks on the Sahara will take place next June in Europe and in July 2012 “in a place to be determined,” announced on Tuesday in Manhasset the U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Christopher Ross.
At the end of the ninth round of negotiations, in presence of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the polisario, Ross said that the new series of informal talks (March 11-13) took place in “an atmosphere of serious engagement, frankness, and mutual respect.”
The parties continued “to deepen the discussion on their respective proposals,” he said, underlining, however, that “each party continued to reject the proposal of the other as the sole basis for future negotiations, while reiterating their willingness to work together to reach a solution in conformity with the pertinent resolutions of the United Nations.”
The parties, Ross told the press, continued their discussion on the new ideas put forward by the Secretary-General in his last report endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, noting that they also continued “their discussion on demining, natural resources and environment.”
To this end, he noted, the parties “have welcomed the progress accomplished on these topics, and confirmed their interest to continue working with the United Nations on these subjects and others in the framework of the ongoing negotiations.”
Regarding the Confidence Building Measures, the Personal Envoy said the focus was put on the results of the second evaluation meeting with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees that took place in Geneva on 24 and 25 January 2012, and that the parties confirmed “their intention to participate in two seminars to be organized by the said Office that could take place in June and October 2012.”
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