UNGA RESOLUTION ON WESTERN SAHARA

UNCLAS STATE 110797 SIPDIS, SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PBTS UNGA WI MO AG SUBJECT: UNGA RESOLUTION ON WESTERN SAHARA REF: A) RABAT 0983 ¶1. USUN is instructed to continue to work with all interested parties to urge them to reach consensus on the Fourth Committee Western Sahara resolution. Mission should support any attempts to postpone voting on the resolution until consensus is reached. ¶2. If, despite all efforts to postpone a vote until consensus is reached, a vote becomes inevitable, Mission is instructed to abstain. If it must abstain, Mission should seek to minimize interest in the vote, downplay its significance, and should not issue an EOV. Our goal is to keep the Security Council, not the General Assembly, as the focal point for Western Sahara. If asked by the press, Mission should say that our vote reflected the fact that the UNGA resolution did not reference all UNSCRs on the matter. ¶3. As they become available, Mission should continue to send negotiation updates and the latest version of the resolution as the text evolves to the Department (with info copies of front channel reporting to Embassies Algiers and Rabat). RICE