UN Envoy Barred from Algeria amid Sahara Dispute with Spain

Having renounced its position of neutrality on the Sahara by deciding to support the Moroccan autonomy plan, Spain is "disqualified and cannot in any way be associated with the efforts to reactivate the political process" to find a solution to the conflict, said a senior government official in Algeria to El Confidencial. And to specify that "the UN personal envoy cannot have any debt towards" Spain.

Relations between Algiers and Madrid have deteriorated since Pedro Sanchez expressed his support for the Moroccan proposal on the Sahara in March. The President of the Spanish Government reiterated on Tuesday from Berlin his willingness to visit Algeria very soon to ease tensions. For Algerian diplomacy, there will be no beginning of normalization of relations with Spain as long as the Spanish government does not go back on its decision concerning the Sahara.

On a tour in the region, Staffan De Mistura visited Saturday one of the Tindouf camps, in southwestern Algeria and met with the Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali. He made this trip on a regular Air Algérie flight, because after this stage, he has to go to Algiers and Nouakchott, where he will be received by the highest authorities of the two countries. The UN special envoy for the Sahara is on his second mission in the region since his appointment last November.