Annan receives Moroccan foreign and interior ministers
Morocco-West Sahara-UN, Politics, 10/29/1998

Morocco ministers of foreign affairs and of the interior, respectively Abdellatif Filali and Driss Basri, were received Monday in New york by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The two ministers, who arrived last Sunday in New York, were accompanied by Morocco's permanent representative to the U.N., Ahmed Snoussi.

No details were disclosed on the content of the talks.

Earlier this week, Annan submitted a report to the U.N. Security Council wherein he proposed postponement of the self-determination referendum in the Sahara until December 1999 in view of the problems still hindering voter identification.

The much-delayed referendum, requested by Morocco, is destined to determine whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords (binding Spain, Morocco and Mauritania), sets up on its own, as claimed by the Algerian-backed Polisario front, or be definitively incorporated into Morocco.

The referendum stumbles over the issue of who would be entitled to vote in the consultation, with the Polisario trying to limit the voters' lists.

In a previous report to the Council, Annan had said, that with the identification of 147,000 applicants wishing to take part in the referendum, the identification was completed, except for the contested tribes H41, H61 and J51/52 (groups that fled the Spanish occupation and who are denied eligibility by the Polisario).

In his latest report, the U.N. secretary-general proposed his arbitration to overcome the present deadlock. He also recommended the Security Council to extend the mandate of MINURSO (French acronym for U.N. mission supervising the referendum operation) to April 30, 1999 in a bid to allow for the completion of the identification process.

Annan will start on November 7 a 10-day tour in the Maghreb to break the ice in the referendum process.

Previous Stories:
  U.N. chief proposes postponing Sahara referendum until December 1999   (10/28/1998)
  UN chief calls for identifying all would-be voters meeting identification criteria   (10/27/1998)
  UN peacekeeping official expected in Morocco   (10/22/1998)

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