GENEVA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Parties involved in talks on the disputed North African territory of Western Sahara ended a two-day roundtable Thursday, with the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Horst Kohler saying the delegations committed to "engaging further."
"We have just finished two days of intensive discussions, and I would like to applaud the delegations for having engaged openly and in a spirit of mutual respect," said Kohler speaking to journalists after the talks at the United Nations in Geneva.
He praised all the delegations for the renewed commitment they showed and for "participating constructively," but did not name a date for further talks.
"The meeting was the first of its kind in six years and took place in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2440 as a first step to a renewed negotiations process aimed at reaching a solution," said Kohler.
He said he convened the meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and that delegations from Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania attended.
Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania at the end of Spain's colonial rule in 1976. When Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979, Morocco moved to occupy that sector and asserted administrative control over the whole territory.
Fighting then broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara. A cease-fire was signed in 1991 and in that year, the UN mission, known by its French acronym as Minurso, was deployed to monitor the cease-fire.
On the issue of Western Sahara, Algiers supports self-determination for the Sahrawi people there, while Rabat insists that Western Sahara is part of Morocco territories.
