Moroccan-UN talks on referendum preparations
Morocco, Politics, 4/16/1999

Morocco and the United Nations held in New York on Wednesday two meetings on amendments proposed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to speed up the referendum process in the Sahara.

Morocco's delegate to the world body, Ahmed Snoussi, told MAP's bureau in New York, "Discussions dealt with protocols for the identification of 65,000 applicants who were not registered (in the referendum voter lists) and wishing to present themselves individually." He added that the two sides also examined appeals procedures for those who have already been identified (by the UN identification commission) as well as operational directives (set of rules of conduct) that the identification commission should observe in the discharge of its duty."

The meeting was attended by the UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Bernard Miyet, and acting special representative of the UN secretary general in the Sahara, Robin Kinloch.

In Rabat, Moroccan Interior Minister Driss Basri held a work session with delegates of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR).

Basri insisted on Morocco's resolve to conclude an agreement with the HCR on various measures to enable all persons from the southern provinces to participate in the referendum.

The United Nations announced earlier this week that, in addition to the protocols, it is planning to submit to the two parties (Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario) a timetable of the referendum coming stages after Annan has completed them.

Last September, the United Nations announced that with the identification of 147,000 persons from the region, the identification of all applicants from all tribal groups, except the contested ones, has been completed in August. The contested tribes H41, H61 and J51/52 are the ones that had fled the Spanish occupation and that are denied eligibility by the Polisario, which is claiming the independence of Morocco's southern provinces.

Morocco has formalized the presence of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in charge of repatriating refugees and their immediate relatives entitled to vote in the referendum.

The identification process, first started in 1994, was interrupted in December 1995 due to the Polisario's refusal to take part in the identification of some tribes, and resumed two years later, following the signing, in September 1997, of the James Baker-brokered Houston accords.

Previous Stories:
  UN to submit revised protocols on referendum for signature   (4/13/1999)
  Referendum is an imperative necessity, minister says   (4/9/1999)
  Identification operation resumes on June 1, minister announces   (4/8/1999)

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