Morocco hopes Baker can relaunch UN Sahara settlement plan
Morocco-West Sahara, Politics, 10/3/1998

Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi said Friday in Rabat that it is up to the U.N. special envoy for the Sahara, former US Secretary of State James Backer, to "find means to relaunch the UN settlement plan on the Sahara."

At a joint news conference held in Paris with French peer Lionel Jospin at the end of the second session of the Moroccan-French high cooperation commission, Youssoufi voiced hope that Baker would succeed in his projected mediation mission in Lisbon so that the referendum would be held and the Sahara file shelved once for all.

The UN settlement plan on the Sahara is facing obstacles, Youssoufi said, renewing Morocco's attachment to the UN plan and its implementation.

For his part, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin underlined his country's attachment to the UN settlement process which, he said, should be carried on until its final stage. He also stressed the need for the settlement of the Sahara issue as soon as possible.

The United Nations is planning to hold a referendum in the Moroccan southern provinces (Sahara), retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, to determine whether this former Spanish colony joins Morocco or sets up an independent state, as desired by the Polisario.

Initially set for next December 7, the operation is facing serious problems due to the Polisario's attempts to limit the electorate to persons included in a census conducted by the Spanish colonial authorities and Morocco's support for the inclusion of tribes that left the area for various reasons.

The UN Security Council decided this month to extend the mandate of "MINURSO" (acronym in French for the UN mission for the referendum in the Sahara) until next October 31.

In his latest report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the identification process was completed with the registration of 147,000 eligible voters in the referendum, except for "contested" tribes made up of populations to whom the Polisario is denying the right to take part in the polling.

Annan's special envoy is expected to hold talks shortly with the two parties to settle the issue of contested tribes.

The USA supports Baker's mission, while the European Union has renewed recently total support for the UN peace plan providing for the holding of a free, legal and neutral self-rule referendum in the Sahara.

Previous Stories:
  Youssoufi: Referendum cannot be held in December   (10/1/1998)
  On eve of US envoy-sponsored Sahara talks, US officials talk of decisive stage   (9/28/1998)

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