Sahara : UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson turns down a question on MINURSO’s vote

As members of the UN Security Council are expected to vote a new resolution on the Western Sahara dispute, Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric turned down a question on the territorial conflict in a daily press briefing, held Monday.

«There’s a vote tomorrow at the Security Council on MINURSO. Can you update us on what the Special Envoy [Horst] Köhler, is doing?  Are the preparations for the third round moving ahead?  What can you tell us?», a journalist asked Dujarric.

The latter, brokenly, said «I don't… I will have… honestly, I… there are a lot of issues I try not to speak on off the top of my head. Western Sahara is one».

For the record, the adoption of the new resolution on Western Sahara was rescheduled, after it was supposed to take place on Monday, April the 29th. This postponement was confirmed by the updated version of the UN Security Council’s agenda.

Days before the adoption of the new resolution, the Polisario said that it wants the text to include an explicit «condemnation» of what it calls «Morocco's ceasefire violations».

Well-informed sources told Yabiladi, Saturday, that South Africa, as a non-permanent member and true spokesman for the Front, is leading a strong lobbying campaign at the UN to lobby for the text to incorporate this demand.