UNITED NATIONS: Russia on Friday vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution that would have supported Morocco’s claim of sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara and ended a 35-year UN peacekeeping mission tasked with helping prepare a referendum on the fate of the mineral-rich territory.
Then the UN Security Council turned down a resolution drafted by Russia to prolong the mandate of the peacekeeping force for a year. The United States didn’t have to cast a veto with 11 abstentions since the resolution didn’t receive the requisite nine “yes” votes in the 15-member council.
The UN mission’s mandate expires Saturday unless there’s a last-minute push to revive it. Morocco said the U.S.-backed resolution’s demand to not renew the UN peacekeeping deployment was a step toward the ultimate settlement of the Western Sahara issue at the UN.
In 1975, Morocco annexd Western Sahara, a former Spanish territory thought to contain large offshore oil reserves, triggering a battle with the Polisario Front, which represents the indigenous Sahrawi people. In 1991 the United Nations arranged a ceasefire and set up a peacekeeping operation to oversee the truce and help to prepare a referendum on the future of the territory. It has never been held because of disputes over who is eligible to vote.
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