UN Security Council extends MINURSO mandate

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday extended the mandate of the MINURSO (UN mission supervising a referendum process in the Sahara) for two other months.

Under Resolution 1349, the new MINURSO mandate will run until next June 30.

The Council also expressed hope that the parties, working under the auspices of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, James Baker III, would "continue to try to resolve the multiple problems relating to the implementation of the Settlement Plan and to try to agree upon a mutually acceptable political solution" to their dispute over the Sahara.

The Council also asked the UN Secretary-General to report on the situation before the expiry of the MINURSO mandate.

The new extension came upon the recommendation last Tuesday of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan in a report to the Council.

Annan who pointed out that "there has been some progress," said the two-month extension, through June 30, should be used to provide time for further consultations with the parties.

The UN has been trying since the early nineties to implement a settlement plan in the Sahara-- a Moroccan southern territory, formerly under Spanish rule and retrieved by Morocco in 1975 but whose sovereignty is claimed by a separatist movement, the Polisario.

The plan, providing for the holding of a referendum to enable the population of the territory to choose between independence or integration with Morocco, has been hampered by the other party which seeks to shrink the voters' rolls.

The 264-strong MINURSO, which was first deployed in 1991, includes military observers, troops and civilian police.