Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in Washington on Thursday
“Secretary Blinken emphasized the continued U.S. commitment to supporting de Mistura’s efforts in leading the UN political process for the Western Sahara,” said Spokesperson for the State Department Ned Price.
The Secretary and Personal Envoy also discussed diplomatic engagement with international partners to reinforce a credible political process that will lead to an enduring and dignified resolution of the conflict, the spokesperson added.
The meeting took place few days after de Mistura conducted his first tour in the Maghreb region that led him to Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania.
The latest UN Security Council resolution 2602 calls on the parties to the Sahara conflict (Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario) to continue their commitment to the roundtable process, in a spirit of realism and compromise, to achieve a realistic and enduring political solution.
Rabat has reiterated commitment to the process engaged under the exclusive auspices of the UN to achieve a political solution on the basis of the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative and within the framework of the roundtables format gathering the four stakeholders.
The United States which recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara has repeatedly expressed backing to the Autonomy Initiative as a serious and credible plan for the settlement of the regional conflict.
The Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura was appointed in early October to a post that had been vacant since May 2019, when former German President Horst Koehler resigned for health reasons.