Moroccan official party visits UN identification center in Laayoune
Morocco, Politics, 7/22/1999

A Moroccan ministerial delegation visited on Wednesday A UN identification center in Laayoune (major city of Moroccan southern provinces) to enquire about the unfolding of the appeals procedure lodged by persons who were excluded from the lists of voters to the UN-projected referendum.

Led by interior minister, Driss basri, the delegation comprises ministers of industry, Alami Tazi, of relations with the parliament, Mohamed Bouzoubaa, of economic forecasts and planning, Abdelhamid Aouad, of fisheries, Thamy Khyari and of water and forests, Said Chbaatou, in addition to secretary of state in charge of scientific research, Omar El Fassi.

The ministers toured the offices where persons who consider themeselves entitled to vote and who were denied this right at a first stage by the UN identification commission.

Several persons of Sahrawi descent complained about the slow appeals procedures and long queues, asking the interior minister to interfere to speed up the procedure.

They also asked the minister to convey to king Hassan II their faithfulness and loyalty and their attachment to the allegiance pact that binds them to the Alawit throne.

Basri reassured them that the Moroccan government will spare no effort to guarantee that all persons of sahrawi descent will be given the right to participate in the referendum slated for July 2000.

The identification commission is a body of the MINURSO, French acronym for UN mission supervising the holding of a referendum in the Sahara. The voting is destined to decide whether the population of the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975, would remain Moroccan territory or stand on its own as claimed by the secessionist guerilla group "Polisario."

Previous Stories:
  Some 25,000 people celebrate Morocco's success after publishing of MINURSO's provisional lists   (7/21/1999)
  UN High Commission for Refugees hails Morocco's actions for the return of refugees   (7/17/1999)
  Morocco contributed $ 120 mln to MINURSO since its deployment in Morocco, Basri says   (7/16/1999)

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