"We are now considering convening a resumed negotiating session in the middle of February," said Ban at a Press Conference held on the sidelines of the 14th ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) which opened in the Ethiopian capital.

    The UN Secretary General recalled that his Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross has been "intensively" engaging with the parties concerned, adding that the informal consultations which took place in August  in Vienna "proved to be useful."

    "We are going to build upon these consultations with the parties concerned,"  Ban underlined.

    "If everything moves well, there is a possibility the resumed negotiations will take place about the middle of February," he added without giving further details.

    The parties met august 10-11, 2009 in Austria as part of an informal meeting meant to prepare the 5th round of negotiations to reach a political and final solution to the Sahara issue.