U.N. chief recommends extension of U.N. Sahara Mission
Morocco-UN, Politics, 7/14/1998

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday recommended the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in the Sahara (MINURSO) for a further period of two months until September 21, 1998.

In his report to the Security Council, Annan said there had been a substantial increase in the pace of identification in June and early July which would, if sustained, enable the MINURSO to complete, during the month of August 1998, the identification of applicants from all Sahara other than the three contested tribes.

The referendum, proposed by Morocco, is designed to determine whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975, sets up on its own as claimed by the Polisario, or incorporates definitely into Morocco.

Annan said both Morocco and the Polisario had generally been cooperating in enduring that the process moved forward, which would be imperative therefore to resolve their differences so that the identification of all applicants other than the three contested tribes might be completed on schedule, Map reported.

Annan said that by the end of June, sufficient progress had been made in the identification process and in the search for solution to the contentious issue of the contested tribal issues. He said he would submit recommendations for a revised timetable for the full implementation of the Settlement Plan.

Annan noted that in June 1998, Minurso identified a total of 13,142 applicants to the referendum. A high level of activity was maintained in the identification process.

On July 6, some 104,200 applicants were convoked for identification since the resumption of the process in December 1997. Of these, 75,555 appeared before the identification commission to be interviewed. With the 60,112 applicants who had been identified during the initial phase of the process (August 1994-December 1995), the total number of persons identified comes to 135,667, the U.N. chief said.

Besides his recommendation to extend Minurso mandate until September 21, 1998, Kofi Annan said he will submit his next report by 15 September instead of mid-August.

"If, by then, it appears that there is still a possibility that the Settlement Plan can be implemented, I shall submit a revised time-table along with the report to the Security Council," he said, adding "if, on the other hand, it appears that the Settlement Plan is no longer viable, it will be my intention to include recommendations on the continued viability of Minurso's mandate."

The identification operation, initially scheduled to wind up by last May 31, was extended in what was seen by some as a stumbling bloc erected by the polisario in an attempt to reduce the voters lists.

Previous Stories:
  Sadr representative in Canada quits and blasts Polisario leadership   (6/30/1998)
  General Assembly extends over $22 million for Sahara mission   (6/30/1998)
  Moroccan prime minister accuses Polisario of hampering voter identification   (6/29/1998)

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