France has been able to amend parts of the draft resolution on the Sahara. However, the document still does not condemn the Polisario's military incursions into the buffer zones. After raising worries Tuesday, April the 17th, regarding the UN draft resolution in the Sahara, Moroccan diplomats in New York are reassured again thanks to the French intervention. In a closed meeting organized by the Western Sahara Friends group and held Wednesday 18th of April, some of the draft resolution's clauses submitted by the Unites States were slightly toned down. Yabiladi learnt that «the ultimatum given to both parties» to relaunch negotiations, suspended since March 2012, in the American version handed over to the Security Council on Tuesday, has been modified. Now, the Security Council «urges the parties» to fully cooperate with the personal envoy of the UN Security General for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, in order to reach a settlement. A call that Morocco has always supported, believing that Algeria is also part of the territorial dispute and should take part in teh negotiation process. Incursions into the buffer zones France has also been able to convince the other members of the «Western Sahara Friends Club» to condemn any action aimed at changing the status of the «buffer zone» and not all the «buffer zones» as Moroccans would have liked. «We have not lost hope in seeing the UN resolution, to be voted in the coming days, mention the military incursions of the Polisario in Bir Lahlou, Mahbass and Guerguerate», a source told Yabiladi. Since April 1, the kingdom has been engaged in an intense political and media campaign, supported by a mobilization of the Royal Armed Forces installed in the Sahara, denouncing the Front's military movements in the buffer zones. However, the recent statement made public by the UN in the person of Stéphane Dujarric, Secretary-General Spokesperson might bring changes to the situation. In fact, the UN official stated in one of his daily briefings held yesterday that «neither Bir Lahlou nor Tifariti fall within the buffer strip».
