Western Sahara: UN special envoy on official trip to Algeria

The UN Special envoy for the Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura was received in Algiers by Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, reports Le Matin d’Algerie on 15th June.

The visit aimed to follow up from previous consultations on the longstanding conflict and encourage continued negotiations between Morocco, the Polisario Front militias, and their backer Algeria.

Algeria has reaffirmed its commitment to a solution based on the UN’s Charter of Nations, emphasizing the need for a “just, durable and definitive” resolution. However, it is also said that Algeria and the Polisario were frustrated by the Moroccan autonomy plan being presented as the “only deal on the table” in previous rounds of negotiations. They also insisted on the need to protect the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and favoured a local referendum to reach a solution.

De Mistura is currently on a regional tour, and visited the Tindouf refugee camps in Western Algeria in early June, during which he met Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. He also reportedly travelled to Norway to consult with US Senior advisor Massad Boulos on the margins of the Oslo Forum. The Trump administration has been pushing for a quick resolution to the conflict and has been involved in previous rounds of negotiations. It has also allegedly piled pressure on Algeria to accept a deal, threatening to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organisation.

Meanwhile, a group of 40 states reiterated their support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed region, during a session of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva. Moroccan ambassador to the UN Omar Zniber read a statement on behalf of the group, reaffirming their endorsement of the Resolution 2797, passed by the UN’s Security Council in October 2025, and calling for a political process to ensure its application. They also praised Morocco’s updates to the plan, with measures to encourage the return of Sahrawi refugees living in Tindouf to Morocco.

Le Matin d’Algerie, Hespress, Maghrebi.org