It is a long time since Morocco and the liberation movement Front Polisario has been so far apart in the dispute over the occupied Western Sahara. Morocco refuses to let go of its colony, and demands that Western Sahara in one way or the other is to be part of the kingdom.
Polisario, on the other hand, demands that international law and the already signed peace agreements be respected, and works to have the referendum implemented.
With this starting point, both Morocco and Polisario has now said willing to enter into direct negotiations, the first in several years.
Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that asks the parties to start such talks. Read the resolution here.
Hear interview with Polisario representatives Sidi Omar and Ahmed Bouchari here. Radio interview was aired at BBC May 1st.
UN body calls for the release of imprisoned Saharawi student
In a decision published yesterday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concludes that the detention of the Saharawi student and human rights defender Al-Hussein Al-Bachir Ibrahim is arbitrary. The UN Working Group called on Morocco to immediately release him from the deplorable prison conditions.
Two Norwegians Are Now Being Deported from Occupied Western Sahara
Two more Norwegians, who travelled to occupied Western Sahara to learn about Morocco’s controversial energy projects in the territory, were detained by Moroccan police this afternoon and deported.
Norwegians deported from occupied Western Sahara - wanted to learn about renewable energy
Today, 25 Moroccan police officers showed up to expel two Norwegians from occupied Western Sahara. The two had traveled to learn what the Sahrawis think about Morocco's controversial renewable energy projects on occupied land.
UN committee highlights Moroccan impunity in occupied Western Sahara
Sahrawi civil society welcomes a new report from the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance, and urges exhumations and identification of victims in the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara.