Communique of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara (Agreed with the Parties) (Manhasset III)

• Country/entity

  Morocco
  Western Sahara
  
• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  Middle East and North Africa
  
• Agreement name

  Communique of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara (Agreed with the Parties) (Manhasset III)
• Date

  9 Jan 2008
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/intrastate conflict ( Western Sahara Conflict (1973 - 1991) )
• Stage

  Pre-negotiation/process
• Conflict nature

  Government/territory
• Peace process

  Morocco-Western Sahara peace process
• Parties

  Representatives of Morocco; Representatives of the Frente Polisario;
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  A short communique detailing the non-substantive discussions held between Representatives of Morocco and the Frente Polisario in Manhasset from 8-9 January 2008.

• Agreement document

  MA_080109_Communique of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara (Agreed with the Parties) Manhasset III_1.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

Communique of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara

(In Agreement with the Parties)

Greentree Estate 9 January 2008

Representatives of Morocco and the Frente Polisario met under United Nations auspices at the Greentree Estate on 8-9 January 2008, in continuation of their discussions aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution to the impasse in the conflict on Western Sahara.

As was the case in the previous rounds of talks, representatives of the neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, were also present at the opening and closing sessions and were consulted separately during the talks.

The discussions focused on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1754 (2007) and 1783 (2007).

During the two days of discussions, the Parties continued to express strong differences on the fundamental questions at stake.

At the same time, the Parties reiterated their commitment to show political will and negotiate in good faith, as called for by the Security Council, and agreed on the need to move the process into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations.

In addition, the Parties discussed but did not agree on confidence-building measures.

They also had preliminary discussions on thematic subjects such as administration, competencies and organs.

With regard to the next steps in the process, the Parties agreed to convene on 11-13 March 2008 at Greentree Estate, New York, for a fourth round of talks.

In order to help prepare the groundwork for those discussions, the parties welcomed my intention to visit the region shortly for in-depth consultations.