Ahmed Boukhari: Ban Ki Moon’s report on negotiations "objective and factual"
30/06/2007- Algerian Press Service

The report of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the negotiations between the two parties to the conflict of Western Sahara, POLISARIO Front and Morocco, last June the 18 and 19 in Manhasset, near New York, "is objective and factual", POLISARIO Fronts’ representative to the UN, Ahmed Boukhari declared Today in a sttament to the press of which UPEs received a copy.

The report only relates the progress of the first round of the negotiations between the two parties and announce the agreement on a second round that will take place next August the 10th.

It is “the report is a factual report that does not deal with the substance nor recommends any course of action to the Security Council. The framework of the negotiation process conducted by the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco, on 18 June has already been defined by resolution 1754 (2007) that underlines the fact that the Council had taken note of two proposals presented by the two parties to the UN Secretary-General in April 2007, and that the objective of the negotiations is to provide for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination”, he said.

Here is the complete text of the statement of Ahmed Boukhari:
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Statement for the Press
Boukhari Ahmed
Representative of the Frente POLISARIO to the United Nations
New York , 29 June 2007


"The Secretary-General’s report on Western Sahara is expected to be released within the coming days, according to the statement made today by the spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General. Therefore and contrary to what has been circulated by some media, the final version of this report has not yet been released. In the final version paragraphs relating to section "observations and recommendations", which appeared in the old version, have all been eliminated, given that the report is a factual report that does not deal with the substance nor recommends any course of action to the Security Council. The framework of the negotiation process conducted by the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco, on 18 June has already been defined by resolution 1754 (2007) that underlines the fact that the Council had taken note of two proposals presented by the two parties to the UN Secretary-General in April 2007, and that the objective of the negotiations is to provide for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination in accordance with the UN relevant resolutions relating to a decolonisation issue.

The Frente POLISARIO will participate in the second round of negotiations due to take place in Manhasset on 10 August, and it hopes that the Kingdom of the Morocco would participate in the forthcoming negotiations with genuine political will that leaves no room for provocation and bad faith that it exhibited in the first round, whilst deliberately resorting to confusion immediately after this first round."