Little headway as UN ends 2nd talks over Western Sahara

GENEVA — U.N.-mediated talks aimed at resolving a decades-old standoff over Western Sahara have failed to make headway on the key issue about how to provide for “self-determination” for the mineral-rich territory that is partially controlled by Morocco.

Former German President Horst Koehler, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ “personal envoy” for Western Sahara, said his aim during the two days of talks in Geneva that ended Friday was to “consolidate the positive dynamic” created in a first, groundbreaking meeting in December. He said he planned to host another meeting, but did not specify when.

Speaking to reporters, Koehler cautioned that “many positions are still fundamentally diverging.”

Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975 and fought the Polisario Front until the United Nations brokered a cease-fire in 1991.

The Associated Press

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