The UN Security Council has voted for the resumption of negotiations between parties to the disputed Western Sahara.
The Thursday resolution called for the parties to resume negotiations “in good faith with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution” for Western Sahara.
Thirteen countries in the 15-member council voted in favour of the resolution, with Kenya and Russia abstaining.Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is disputed by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front and Morocco.
Morocco controls around 80% of Western Sahara and the rest is held by the Polisario movement – which fought with Morocco for years after Spanish forces withdrew in 1975.
The 16-year-long insurgency ended with a UN-brokered truce in 1991 and the promise of a referendum on independence which has yet to take place.