PSC/PR/COMM(DCLVIII) Page 2 5. Recalls its earlier decisions on the situation in Western Sahara, namely Communiqué PSC/PR/COMM/.1 (CDXCVI) of 27 March 2015 (496th), Press Statement PSC/PR/COMM.2(DII) of 30 April 2015 (503rd) and Communiqué PSC/PR/COMM.(DLXXXVIII) of 6 April 2016 (588th ), as well as its Communiqué PSC/PR/COMM.(DCXVII) of 12 August 2016 (617th ). Also recalls Communiqué PSC/AHG/COMM.4(DXLVII) adopted at the 547th meeting of the Council held on 26 September 2015, in New York, at the level of Heads of State and Government, in which it urged the UN Security Council to fully assume its responsibilities, and take all necessary measures to rapidly resolve the Western Sahara conflict and find an effective response to issues related to respect for human rights and the illegal exploitation of natural resources of the territory; 6. Congratulates the Kingdom of Morocco for its accession to the AU without preconditions nor reservations. Council commends Morocco’s readiness to sit side by side with the SADR in the deliberations of the AU Policy Organs; 7. Regrets the fact that the Kingdom of Morocco, which had been invited by the Council to attend its 668th meeting on the situation in Western Sahara, did not come to the meeting. Council, therefore, calls on the Kingdom of Morocco to extend the necessary cooperation in conformity with the provisions of the AU Constitutive Act and the PSC Protocol; 8. Commends the continued efforts of the UN Secretary-General, as well as those of his Personal Envoy, towards the search for a solution within the framework of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, including the consultations undertaken by the Personal Envoy as part of his new approach as outlined in the report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara of 10 April 2016 (S/2016/355). Council regrets the resignation of Ambassador Christopher Ross, the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, and also commends him for the efforts he had been deploying to overcome the deadlock in the peace process; 9. Welcomes the steps taken by the Chairperson of the Commission in implementation of the relevant decisions of the AU policy organs and in support of the UN-led efforts, including the efforts of former President Joaquim Chissano as the AU Special Envoy. Council expresses satisfaction at the efforts deployed by the Special Envoy to address the current impasse in the peace process, and commends him for his commitment in the discharge of his mandate; 10. Notes with deep concern that four decades after the onset of the conflict in Western Sahara and fifty four years after the decision to decolonize Western Sahara, all efforts aimed at finding a solution have so far failed to achieve the expected results and that the prevailing deadlock in the peace process not only heightens tensions in the Territory, but also undermines efforts to promote continental integration. Accordingly, Council expresses the urgency for renewed efforts to achieve an early and definitive resolution to this conflict. In this respect, Council: (i) recalls the pertinent provisions of Article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the AU stipulating, among others, the peaceful resolution of conflicts among the Member States of the Union;