Paraguay freezes diplomatic relations with so-called Sahrawi republic

The government of Paraguay has decided to freeze diplomatic relations with the so-called Sahrawi republic, pending the final outcome of the projected referendum in the Sahara, an official note of the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry said.

The note handed over to Morocco's embassy in Brasilia cancels the statement announcing the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Latin American state and the self-proclaimed SADR, the embassy said.

The statement was signed last February 9 in New York by Paraguay's permanent representative to the United nations and a Polisario delegate.

A month later, the issue was raised in Santiago, on the sidelines of the sworn-in ceremonies of the chilean president, at a meeting between the president of Paraguay, Luis Gonzales Macchi, Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahman Youssoufi and the Moroccan and Paraguayan foreign ministers, Mohamed Benaissa and Juan Esteban Aguirre.

Several Latin American countries, mainly Honduras, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica adopted the same stand as Paraguay and decided to reserve their stand regarding the so-called SADR awaiting the referendum outcome.

The United Nations is trying to hold a referendum in the Sahara-- a Moroccan southern territory that was formerly under Spanish rule retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords.

The vote will give the people of the Sahara a choice between independence or integration with Morocco.