Gabon warns against serious dangers of Baker's new plan for the Sahara

Gabon warned on Wednesday against the serious dangers underlying the new plan for the Sahara mooted by the UN secretary general's personal envoy for the Sahara, James Baker, and called for continuing negotiations to reach a settlement accepted by all parties to the conflict

As laudable as it could as a sincere contribution for the settlement of the Sahara issue, the plan proposed to the parties (by Baker) in January 2003 is "difficult, not to say impossible, to implement given the serious hazards it underlies, said Gabon's delegate to the UN, Alfred Moussoti.

The Gabonese delegate told the general assembly 4th commission his country believed that the General Assembly should encourage parties to carry on negotiations for a mutually-accepted solution, pending the report that the UN the secretary general and his personal envoy will present to the security council.

The diplomat also recalled that Morocco had accepted the draft framework-agreement mooted by Baker as a settlement to the issue.