Mandela to UN: Quit stalling on the Sahara issue

President Nelson Mandela of South Africa on Monday called for dropping the Sahara issue from the agenda of the international community.

"We expect a solution to the problems of Western Sahara and of East Timor, and we are convinced that it is possible to subtract these issues from the agenda of the international community on the basis of accords that meet the interests of all the populations concerned," Mandela said in an address before the 53rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Sahara issue is currently under the responsibility of the United Nations, which try to settle the issue through a self-determination referendum to determine whether the former Spanish colony sets up on its own, as claimed by the Polisario, or be definitively incorporated into Morocco.

Initially set for next December 7, the referendum will most likely be postponed to the beginning of next year due to obstacles erected by the Polisario to shrink the voters lists.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a recent report that with the identification of 147,350 applicants, the identification of would-be voters in the referendum had now largely been completed except for members of three contested tribal groupings, H41, H61 and J51/52.

U.N. Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, James Baker, is planning to hold contacts with the parties to settle the issue of contested tribes.

following the mission, Baker "will assess the implementability of the Plan in its present form and examine whether there are any adjustments to the Plan, acceptable to both parties, which would significantly improve the chances of implementing it."