Morocco rejected a proposal by United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura to divide Western Sahara between Moroccan control and an independent state administered by the Polisario Front. De Mistura presented the idea during a closed briefing to the UN Security Council as one possible route toward resolving the long-running dispute, according to reporting cited in the evidence packet.
Under the reported proposal, Morocco would annex the northern part of Western Sahara. The southern section would become an independent state under the Polisario Front, sharing borders with Morocco to the north and Mauritania to the south. The plan failed to gain acceptance from either party.
De Mistura told Security Council members that neither Morocco nor the Polisario Front had agreed to the division. He also indicated that the UN secretary-general should reconsider the usefulness of the special-envoy role if the political process made no progress during the following six months. That warning reflected frustration with a negotiating track in which the sides’ basic positions remained far apart.
Because the proposal was delivered in a closed briefing, the supplied account relied on reports about what de Mistura presented rather than a full public plan. Details beyond the north-south division, including governance arrangements or an implementation timetable, were not available and cannot be inferred.
Morocco continued to promote autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as its maximum offer. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita had reiterated that position in two meetings with de Mistura, according to the supplied report. King Mohammed VI had likewise emphasized that the territory is central to Morocco’s foreign relations.
Rabat’s stance had received support from several countries. The evidence identified the United States, France and Spain among governments backing Moroccan sovereignty or the autonomy approach, with France described as the most recent significant supporter and a permanent member of the Security Council. That diplomatic trend helped explain why a partition proposal offering full independence in the south was unlikely to be acceptable to Morocco.
The Polisario Front’s rejection showed that division also failed to satisfy the opposing party. The packet did not give a detailed statement of the Front’s objections, so its reasoning cannot be described beyond the reported refusal. The episode nevertheless demonstrated that presenting a new territorial formula did not bridge the dispute.
Separately, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recommended extending the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, for one year through October 31, 2025. His annual report reviewed political and security developments, the mission’s civilian work and human-rights issues, including conditions in the Tindouf camps.
The Security Council was due to meet on October 30 to consider a new resolution on the mission. Renewing MINURSO would preserve the UN presence while diplomatic efforts continued, but it would not itself settle the territory’s final status.
Morocco’s rejection left its autonomy plan and the Polisario Front’s position as competing frameworks, with no agreement on de Mistura’s proposed compromise. The envoy’s reported six-month warning added pressure to a process that remained active institutionally but stalled on its central political question.
