UN renews peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, calls for talks | Al Jazeera

The United Nations Security Council has extended the UN peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara for a year, expressing concern at the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front and calling for a revival of UN-led negotiations.

The vote on Friday was 13-0 with Russia and Tunisia abstaining.

The resolution was spearheaded by the United States, which under former President Donald Trump broke with the world to recognise Morocco’s claim to the territory as it persuaded the kingdom to normalise relations with Israel.

Weeks after the appointment of a new UN envoy on Western Sahara, veteran diplomat Staffan de Mistura, the resolution called for “the parties” to resume negotiations “without preconditions and in good faith” in search of a “just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution”.

The resolution calls for a goal of “self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, a phrase that diplomats said was added by the US at the behest of Russia, which could have vetoed the text.

The resolution also “reaffirms the need for full respect” of a ceasefire that collapsed last year.