Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations said in a statement that his emissaries are prepared to spare no effort to revive the peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara. The UN will resume full operation and ultimately end the controversy.
According to the Daily Mail, Morocco expelled 73 international civilian staff members with the peacekeeping mission and have shut down a military liaison facility to protest Ban Ki-moon's usage of the word "occupation" in describing the condition of the mineral-rich territory during a recent visit to camps in Western Sahara refugees in Algeria. Reports say that eleven other civilians ordered out had already left the mission, which is also known as MINURSO.
The Security Council authorized MINURSO to monitor the cease-fire and bring assistance in organizing the referendum. However, it has never taken place due to the disputes over the insistence of Morocco that autonomy is the only solution.
Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, said that part of the UN's next move to achieve such effort is to reiterate that Ban Ki-moon's visit to the region in early March was not meant to offend or express hostility toward Morocco, says Fox News. Dujarric's statement did not sound like an apology, but it did express regret. He said the UN regrets the "misunderstandings and the consequences" that the personal expression of solicitude provoked.
ABC News reported that Dujarric also reminded Morocco that it is required under the UN Charter to carry out Security Council decisions. He said that the most important thing to do at the moment is to overcome the current difficulties and enable the peacekeeping mission to resume in a constructive, cooperative, and comprehensive manner.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar of Morocco said the decision to remove the 73 civilian staff members is irreversible. Ahmed Boukhari, Polisario Front's UN Representative, issued a warning again that the shortest way towards war is the removal of MINURSO.
