Security Council extends UN mission in Sahara for 3 more months
The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Sahara (MINURSO) until 28 February 2002 to allow Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy and the parties concerned to continue efforts to find a durable solution to the dispute.
In its resolution, the 15-member body asked Annan to keep it informed of all significant developments in an interim report by 15 January 2002 and to provide an assessment of the situation by 18 February 2002.
The decision followed a meeting of the Council on Monday, during which the members heard a briefing on Sahara by a top UN peacekeeping official, H?di Annabi.
In a statement to the press after the meeting, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica, which holds the body's rotating presidency for the month of November, voiced the Council's support for the efforts of James Baker III, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, to find a solution acceptable to the parties concerned, and for the work of the Secretary-General's outgoing Special Representative, as well as his successor.
