At the Security Council, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara announced that he is preparing for a second «round-table», on the territorial dispute. Horst Köhler is bringing together the four parties for new talks in March. The UN Security Council hosted, Tuesday, a behind-closed-doors meeting on the Western Sahara issue. «Horst Köhler presented a summary on the 'round-table' meeting held on December the 5th and 6th in Geneva. He was pleased with the resumption of talks between the parties in question after a six-year suspension», a well-informed source told Yabiladi. The former German President announced, during this meeting, that he plans to convene a second round of talks in March. Meanwhile, Köhler will conduct direct and bilateral meetings with the four parties during the month of February, referring to Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania. Köhler to tour the region again «Horst Köhler is expected to tour the region in order to examine the positions of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario, as a way of preparing for the second round of the new meeting, expected to take place in March», the same source told Yabiladi. «The Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara welcomed the imminent resumption of exchange programs for Sahrawi families living in the Tindouf camps and the big cities of the Sahara. To him, it is a success». A well-informed source From the 18th to the 25th of January, two of Horst Kohler's collaborators visited Laayoune and the Tindouf camps, where they tried to relaunch the program suspended by the Polisario in 2013. Tuesday's meeting at the Security Council was marked by the absence of the MINURSO head Colin Stewart. Moreover, the president of the Security Council, an ambassador from the Dominican Republic, refused to answer reporters' questions on why the meeting was held behind closed doors. For the record, four delegations from Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania attended in December a two-day 'round-table', in Geneva on the Western Sahara conflict. The four parties participated to multiple working sessions chaired by Horst Köhler, who announced at the end of the talks that a peaceful solution to the conflict is possible.
