UN Proposes Former Syria Mediator as New Sahara Envoy

Finally the light at the end of the tunnel! In a statement to APS, a "senior Sahrawi official" confided that the former UN mediator in Syria, the Swede Staffan de Mistura, could be appointed as the new UN envoy for the Sahara, a position vacant since the resignation of the German Horst Köhler in 2019. The reaction of the Polisario Front and that of Morocco are awaited. If the two parties to the conflict agree on this new proposal, Staffan de Mistura will become the fifth envoy of the United Nations organization for the Sahara.

In the past, the UN has appointed four mediators who have failed to resolve the conflict: the two Americans James Baker and Christopher Ross, the former German President Horst Kohler and the Dutchman Peter Van Walssun. Since then, the UN organization has faced the difficulty of appointing a replacement for the German Horst Köhler, its proposals having met with the refusal of the Polisario, protected by Algeria. On the other hand, Morocco has always supported the UN proposals. It "is a complicated position for which it has always been a bit difficult to find the right person," acknowledged Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

It remains to be seen whether the new proposal will receive the assent of the independence movement. Staffan de Mistura, 74, has dual Italian-Swedish nationality. Former UN mediator in Syria, he has served the UN organization in several countries including Iraq and Afghanistan for four decades.