Sahara talks

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he hopes to maintain the political “momentum” to seek a solution to the Western Sahara conflict, despite having not had a special envoy to the region for the past four months. In a report on Wednesday, Mr Guterres praised the progress made by the UN’s former envoy, Horst Kohler, who left the position in May for health reasons. He “was able to reinstate a much-needed dynamic and momentum to the political process, including through the round-table process he launched which brought together Morocco, Frente Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania,” Mr Guterres said in the document delivered to the Security Council.