UN-Mediated Talks on Western Sahara May Be Held in Geneva in December - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UN-mediated direct talks between Morocco and the Western Sahara independence movement Polisario Front are slated to take place in Geneva on December 4-5, which will become another attempt to relaunch efforts to settle the situation around the disputed territory, local media reported on Saturday.

According to the Algeria Press Service (APS) news agency, the personal envoy for the UN secretary-general, Horst Koehler, conveyed the relevant invitation to a Polisario delegation in New York on Friday.

Koehler also reportedly informed the delegation about steps that the United Nations was planning to take to resume the political process.

During the upcoming talks, the parties are expected to discuss a framework that will serve as a basis for future dialogue, the media outlet reported.

Morocco claimed control of most of Western Sahara after the Spanish colonial administration of the territory ended in 1976. Fighting later broke out between Morocco and Polisario, ending in a ceasefire in September 1991. The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara was deployed to the area the same year in an attempt to achieve lasting and mutually acceptable solution that would provide for self-determination of Western Saharan people. Polisario still cannot agree with Morocco on the status of Western Sahara, demanding a referendum on self-determination.