UN urges talks on Western Sahara after cease-fire breakdown

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has extended the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara for a year, expressing concern at the breakdown of the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front and calling for a revival of U.N.-led negotiations. The vote on Friday was 13-0 with Russia and Tunisia abstaining. The U.S.-drafted resolution makes no mention of U.S. backing for Morocco’s claim to the mineral-rich territory in the waning days of the Trump administration.. And it did not mention what the U.N. calls “low-intensity hostilities” that have raged for the past year.