Morocco World News
Morocco World News
New York, June 15, 2012.
The United Nations Secretary-General, BAN Ki-moon, today announced the appointment of Mr. Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber of Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
“The new Special Representative of the Secretary-General succeeds Mr. Hany Abdel-Aziz of Egypt, who completed his assignment on 30 April 2012.,” said in a statement on Friday the spokesperson of the United Nations Secretary General.
Mr. Weisbrod-Weber brings 28 years of experience with the United Nations and a strong background in peacekeeping direction and management, both in headquarters and in field operations. Under challenging conditions, he has promoted political dialogue, progress in the rule of law, and post-conflict reconciliation. While serving since 2008 as the Director of the Asia and Middle East Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, he was twice assigned as Deputy Special Representative ad interim of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in 2009 and in 2010.
Mr. Weisbrod-Weber also served, from 2006 to 2008, as Chief of Staff for the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNMIT), and as the Director of the Europe and Latin American Division of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations from 2004-2006. Previously, he held various appointments within the Secretariat and in United Nations field operations.
The informal negotiations over the Sahara are in standstill after the Moroccan government withdrew its confidence in the personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Sahara, Christopher Ross. The Moroccan government considers that the veteran US diplomat’s work in the Sahara was “unbalanced and biased.”
The UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara Christopher Ross, “no longer meets the necessary conditions that enable him to ensure the success of negotiations on the Sahara,” Communication Minister and Spokesperson for the Government Mustapha El Khalfi, said last May at a press briefing following the weekly Government Council.
