A SCHEME by a United Nations envoy to divide Western Sahara is a “non-starter, the Polisario Front said on Thursday.

The UN envoy to Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, put forward a proposal to divide the territory between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front as a way to settle the decades-long conflict.

Mr Mistura proposed partition as one potential way to satisfy both sides and give residents a chance to decide under who they want to live, according to a briefing provided to a closed meeting of the UN security council on Wednesday.