Polisario slams UN's 'lack of vigour' regarding Western Sahara dispute

Polisario's separatist movement leaders decried the UN's "lack of vigour" in solving the Western Sahara conflict during a UN envoy's visit to Saharawi camps in Tindouf, reported to Algeria's state News agency APS.

In Tindouf, southwestern Algeria, Staffan de Mistura, UN's Western Sahara envoy, held a closed-door meeting Sunday with Brahim Ghali, the Polisario Front leader, and Omar Sidi Mohamed, the group's permanent representative to the United Nations, in the latest diplomatic endeavour to inch forward a standstill over the Western Sahara territory.

During the meeting, Polisario's leaders reportedly criticised the UN's "lack of vigour" in implementing its resolutions on the Saharawi question, which has existed for almost five decades.

The Sahrawi leaders have also reiterated their commitment to peace and the Sahrawi people's "non-negotiable rights".

"We are committed to just and continuous peace, a complete commitment, which we have proven during the past pacts. We have at the same time a strong will to continue to defend our non-negotiable rights with all legitimate means," said Sidi Mohamed Omar, representative of the Polisario at the United Nations, according to Algeria's state News agency APS.

During his two-day trip to Tindouf, De Mistura also visited a refugee camp and spoke to a group of Sahrawi youth and women.

"We carried a message from Sahrawi women in the occupied territories, who ask the representative to come and visit to see the reality of the situation," said Chaba Sini, General Secretary of the Polisario Women's Union, reported AFP.

Morocco fought a 15-year war against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front movement after Spain withdrew from the territory in 1975. 

In 1991, the UN established a peacekeeping mission to monitor a ceasefire and organise a referendum on the territory's status. 

The vote was set for 1992 but was suspended after Morocco refused to accept any vote that allowed for the territory's independence, saying that only "autonomy" was on the table.

The UN formally recognises neither Moroccan nor Polisario Front sovereignty over the disputed territory.

In 2006, Morocco presented its autonomy plan regarding the territory, which is supposed to allow Sahrawis to run their affairs "democratically" through legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, while Rabat retains control over the defence and foreign relations.

For its part, the UN has backed the plan, yet the Polisario Front rejected Rabat's proposal and continues to call for an independent state for Sahrawis.

Since then, numerous UN-sponsored talks have failed to make a breakthrough, each side further entrenched in their positions.

In the upcoming days, De Mistura is expected to visit Algiers and Nouakchott in an attempt to  "advance the political process", according to the Spanish daily El Mundo.