UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday appealed to Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front to launch "substantive" negotiations to reach a mutually acceptable solution to their 32-year dispute over the Western Sahara.
In a statement released by his press office, he appealed to the parties "to make full use of this week's round of talks to begin moving into a more intensive and substantive phase of discussions" on the future of the phosphate-rich northwest African territory.
Ban spoke only hours before Moroccan and Polisario delegations were to huddle over dinner in the secluded Greentree estate in the New York suburb of Manhasset late on Monday at the start of a third round of closed-door talks mediated by UN envoy for Western Sahara Peter Van Walsum.
A UN statement said Ban "recognizes that it will take both time and patience to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution to this longstanding dispute."
Last month, the Algerian-backed Polisario warned it would resume its armed struggle against Morocco if negotiations fail.
Two previous rounds of bargaining held last year failed to narrow wide differences between Rabat and the Polisario.
And diplomats say a breakthrough in this week's round, which is to run through today, is unlikely.
"We hope that Morocco this time is going to cooperate for the full implementation" of UN resolutions on the issue and "will engage in substantive negotiations," Ahmed Bujari, the Polisario's UN representative, said on Friday.
He said the Moroccans must agree to discuss not just their proposal for broad autonomy for the Western Sahara but also the Polisario's call for a referendum that would include the option of independence for the former Spanish colony.
"We believe peace is possible ... But a new failure of the [negotiation] process would have negative consequences for the entire [northwest African) region]," Bujari said. "It could push us on the way to a resumption of hostilities and Morocco will be responsible."
Last October, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on the parties to "engage in substantive negotiations ... without preconditions and in good faith ... with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution."
Morocco annexed the mainly desert Western Sahara in the 1970s following the withdrawal of colonial power Spain, sparking a war with the Polisario guerrillas.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1991, but a promised self-determination referendum never materialized and since 2002 Rabat has insisted that holding such a plebiscite is no longer realistic.
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