The Moroccan government has accepted the German politician Horst Kohler, former president of Germany (2004-2010), as the new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for western Sahara, Moroccan official sources told the Spanish news agency Efe. Kohler (74), had already received the green light from the Polisario Front, while Morocco has taken several weeks before giving its approval. The former Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Christopher Ross, finally resigned from his post on the 30th of April, as confirmed recently by the UN spokesman Farhan Haq. Ross had been in disaffection with Morocco for five years, which decided in 2012 to withdraw its confidence in the personal envoy. Ban Ki-moon kept him in office. The position of Personal Envoy is extremely delicate and almost all those who have passed through the position have ended up at odds with Morocco and the Separatist Front. The two sides have had no direct contact for a number of years: their last meeting was held in Manhasset, Washington, in 2008.
