UN Council urges more effort on Western Sahara talks

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council exhorted Western Sahara's independence movement and Morocco Wednesday to put more effort into talks on the territory's future that have marked time since opening in June.

The call came in a resolution extending the mandate of U.N. peace-keepers in the phosphate-rich former Spanish colony for six more months, which was passed unanimously despite protests by South Africa that the measure favored Morocco in the talks.

Morocco, which annexed the northwest African territory of 260,000 people after Spain's troops pulled out in 1975, has offered it autonomy but the Polisario Front movement is calling for a referendum with full independence as one option.

Two rounds of talks were held near New York in June and August, but a recent report by Ban said each side had stuck to "rigid positions." "It cannot really be maintained that the parties have entered into negotiations," it said.

Wednesday's resolution called on the parties "to show political will and work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue in order to engage in substantive negotiations".

In the only speech in the 15-nation council before the resolution was passed, South Africa protested that it openly favored Rabat's proposals over those of Algeria-based Polisario and also failed to mention human rights.

The text was watered down from an original U.S. draft, but still welcomed "serious and credible Moroccan efforts to move the process forward" while merely "taking note of" Polisario's proposal. Both plans were submitted in April to Ban, prompting the Security Council to call on the two sides to hold talks.

HUMAN RIGHTS

South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said he was "amazed" by the praise for Rabat's plan. "The fact is that the Moroccan proposal for autonomy is a unilateral attempt to prevent the Sahrawi people from claiming their rights to self-determination," he said.

He also condemned as a "double standard" the council's failure to mention human rights violations in Western Sahara, even though it frequently referred to the issue in other parts of the world. Kumalo nevertheless voted for the resolution.

Morocco's main allies on the council are the United States and France. Analysts say Washington wants the Sahara dispute resolved soon to aid its fight against Islamic militancy in North Africa and sees Rabat's plan as the best solution.

No country, however, recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, where a 1,500-km wall of sand separates Moroccan and Polisario forces.

The council's resolution renewed the mandate of some 200 U.N. military observers in the territory, which expired Wednesday, until April 30, 2008.

Senior Polisario official Mhamed Khadad told reporters his movement welcomed the resolution and saw it as treating the two proposals equally, but he too regretted its omission of any reference to "the serious situation of human rights".

He said Polisario was ready to take part in the next round of talks, for which no date or venue has been set. Diplomats say Morocco is waiting until its new government, unveiled Oct. 15, is endorsed by parliament before committing.