Algeria regrets ‘biased’ UN text on W Sahara

Algiers: Algeria on Sunday expressed "profound regret" at what it called an unbalanced UN Security Council resolution calling on all sides to resume talks toward a solution in disputed Western Sahara.

Algiers backs the Polisario Front, which seeks independence in Western Sahara, and in August broke off relations with Morocco over various accusations of hostile acts, which Rabat rejected. Morocco controls nearly 80 percent of the arid and sparsely populated territory which was under Spain’s jurisdiction until 1975.

The United Nations resolution called for "the parties" to resume negotiations "without preconditions and in good faith" in search of a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution".

It also renewed for another year the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, established in 1991. The Security Council resolution was spearheaded by the United States, which under former president Donald Trump broke with the world to recognise Morocco’s claim to the territory as part of a quid pro quo for Rabat’s normalisation of ties with Israel.