Western Sahara: UN to appoint new mediator

The Polisario Front on Saturday (August 30th) said it was prepared to enter into "serious and intensive" negotiations with Morocco over Western Sahara, two days after the United Nations confirmed that a new mediator will replace special envoy Peter van Walsum, whose mandate expired last week. The Polisario said it would resume dialogue "on the basis of international legality on decolonisation, through holding a free and fair referendum overseen by the United Nations".