AFP
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wants the divided Security Council to clarify its stance on the UN dispute with Morocco over Western Sahara, his spokesman said Friday.
The 15-member council discussed the escalating row during a closed-door meeting on Thursday after Rabat ordered drastic cuts to the staff of the UN mission in Western Sahara.
But the council did not urge Morocco to reverse its decision and did not express support for Ban in the dispute sparked by his description of Moroccan rule in Western Sahara as an “occupation.”
“It would have been better if we had received clearer words from the president of the Security Council,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Ban will raise the thorny issue during a lunch meeting on Monday with Security Council ambassadors, his spokesman said, adding that it would be “at the top of the agenda” of the talks.
Morocco has ordered 84 staffers from MINURSO to leave in the coming days, a move the United Nations says will paralyze the mission that was set up in 1991 after a ceasefire was reached in the disputed territory.
During a recent trip to North Africa, Ban angered Rabat when he used the word “occupation” to describe the status of Western Sahara.
