On Sunday, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf met with Staffan de Mistura, the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Western Sahara. «During the meeting, Minister Ahmed Attaf reaffirmed Algeria's full support for the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, to find a political solution to the Western Sahara conflict, in accordance with the UN Charter and international decolonization laws», the Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Attaf called on the UN envoy to initiate «direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict—the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front—without preconditions, in order to reach a political solution that brings an end to the decolonization of Western Sahara». The minister also reiterated Algeria's role as an «observer state, alongside Mauritania», in this process. Staffan de Mistura had previously spent three days in the Tindouf region meeting with the Polisario Front, including a session with its leader, Brahim Ghali. He also visited Morocco and Mauritania as part of his regional tour. The Italian-Swedish diplomat is expected to brief the United Nations Security Council on the Western Sahara issue on April 14.
