UN Chief Ki-Moon wants to revive talks to end Western Sahara conflict

Mar 09, 2016 U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon recently said that he will strive to restart negotiations between Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement and Morocco in a bid to resolve their conflict and allow Sahrawi refugees to return.

Speaking from Mauritania, the U.N. chief said:

“I want to bring my contribution to negotiations launched in order to resolve these long-standing differences and to start the talks so that the Sahrawi refugees can return home to Western Sahara with dignity.”

According to a UN statement, Ban also met with President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and commended the Mauritanian leader for his strong support for the UN mediation efforts on Western Sahara.

Ban, who was in Mauritania as part of a tour of West and North African countries, also had a quick stop in Algeria.