UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua): The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another six months, till Oct. 31, 2019.
Resolution 2468 won the support of 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Russia and South Africa abstained.
The resolution emphasizes the need to achieve a realistic, practicable and enduring political solution to the question of Western Sahara.
It calls on the parties to resume negotiations under the auspices of the UN secretary-general without preconditions and in good faith, with a view to achieving a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
The resolution emphasizes the importance of a renewed commitment by the parties to advancing the political process in preparation for further negotiations, and calls on the parties to demonstrate political will and to work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue.
Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania at the end of Spain's colonial rule in 1976. When Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979, Morocco moved to occupy that sector and has since asserted administrative control over the whole territory. Fighting broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara.
A cease-fire was signed in 1991. The UN mission was deployed that year to monitor the cease-fire and to organize, if possible, a referendum on self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
