Morocco conveys U.N. secretary general memorandum on Sahara
Morocco, Politics, 2/14/2000

Morocco has conveyed to the U.N secretary general kofi Annan a memorandum on the Sahara and renewed attachment to the U.N settlement plan and total cooperation with the secretary general.

The memorandum was handed over to Annan by Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohammed Benaissa, at a meeting in Bangkok Saturday.

The United Nations is trying to hold a referendum in the Sahara --a Moroccan southern territory that was formerly under Spanish rule and that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords. The referendum that will give the people of the Sahara a choice between independence or integration with Morocco, has been repeatedly delayed because of the maneuvers of the separatist Polisario which seeks to shrink the voters list.

The memorandum was conveyed to the UN secretary general at a moment the referendum process is in a crucial phase and at a time the appeal procedures are to be engaged by the applicants who deem that their applications to identification had been unduly rejected, a statement by the foreign department said.

Through this memo --which is part of the Secretary General's consultations on the eve of his coming report to the Security Council-- Morocco wanted to reiterate its attachment to the UN settlement plan and to renew to the secretary general its trust as well as its full cooperation, the statement said.

Morocco also wants to recall once again the various obstacles hampering the implementation of the settlement plan and the multiple difficulties the Moroccan applicants have encountered during the past nine years either to be identified and or to be recognized as eligible voters.

The memorandum mentions the problems that the applicants will undoubtedly face if the settlement plan and the related regulations were not respected, and lists all the applicants' grievances regarding the way the plan has been implemented, in contradiction with the rules set and with the U.N security council resolutions and the Houston accord.

The memorandum describes in detail the situation of the Moroccans sequestered by the Polisario in the Tindouf camps and points out that the U.N which has already proceeded to the identification of these Moroccans --albeit in difficult conditions-- should help them return freely to their homeland where all arrangements have been made to cater for their needs.

After the meeting with Annan, Benaissa-- who is in Bangkok to attend the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X)-- told reporters that Morocco which initiated the referendum and accepted it remains attached to its territorial integrity and sovereignty and refuses to give in to any overbids.

Previous Stories:
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  Speaker of Bulgarian parliament winds up visit to Morocco   (2/7/2000)

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