ALGIERS - The Polisario Front on Friday condemned Morocco's decision to withdraw its confidence in the UN envoy for the Western Sahara as "unfounded and arbitrary", the APS news agency reported.
Polisario judged "unfounded and arbitrary the decision by Morocco to withdraw its confidence in Mr (Christopher) Ross in the pursuit of his mission to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict in the Western Sahara guaranteeing the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination," a Polisario statement said.
"This decision, as serious as it is unjustified, is a fresh and unacceptable challenge by Morocco" to the international community and to the United Nations, which still backs Ross, the statement added.
The Polisario Front, partly based in Tindouf in southwest Algeria, near the border with the Western Sahara, arose to fight Morocco's annexation of the disputed territory after Spanish settlers pulled out in 1975.
A ceasefire has prevailed for about two decades and the United Nations has made several bids to resolve the crisis, but in vain because Polisario rejects Rabat's proposal to give the territory self-government under Moroccan sovereignty.
Morocco on Thursday said it had lost confidence in Ross, claiming in a government statement that his work in the Western Sahara was "unbalanced and biased".
"Ross has drifted from the mandate given to him by the UN secretary general in his role as facilitator," said Youssef Amrani, a delegate with Morocco's foreign ministry.
</p>
