Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The United Nations envoy to Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, offered his resignation after he failed to bring Morocco and the polisario front to the negotiation table, in a bet to give a breath of life to the Western Sahara issue.
The move was officially announced by the UN political chief, Jeffrey Feltman, who told reporters yesterday that UN chief Antonio Guterres has received the resignation letter from Ross, further noting that Guterres will act on the resignation “at a time when he sees fit.”
Various local Moroccan outlets have been sharing news about the resignation since last week, even though the reports were not confirmed by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General during yesterday’s noon briefing when Haq stressed that “Christopher Ross serves at the pleasure of the Secretary‑General, and he continues to serve in that post right now,” further noting that he cannot confirm the reports from Morocco about Ross’s resignation.
Feltman however confirmed the resignation, noting that Ross “has worked for eight years to try to come up with a framework by which the parties … would be able to renew negotiations, on an unconditional basis, about the permanent settlement of this dispute.”
“He has been unable to bring the parties back to negotiations and … he has offered his resignation to the secretary-general for the secretary-general to act upon at a time that he sees fit,” Feltman said.
The Moroccan Times.
