Morocco cannot accept some Sahrawis be considered as 2nd-class applicants in Sahara referendum

Morocco cannot in any case accept that 65,000 Sahrawis be considered as second-class applicants in the projected referendum in the Sahara and be given less favorable conditions and procedures that are not conforming to the UN settlement plan on the Sahara.

This came in a letter sent by Morocco's permanent representative at the United Nations, Ahmed Snoussi, to the president of the UN security council.

The Moroccan diplomat said Morocco which welcomed the arbitration of the UN secretary general, kofi Annan, hopes that the arbitration proposals will be implemented without delay to complete the identification process and start the other phases of the Settlement plan. But, he asserted, "Morocco cannot in any case accept that the 65,000 applicants who form almost the double of the applicants presented by the other party be considered as second-class applicants and be submitted to less favorable conditions and procedures that are not conform to the UN settlement plan."

Regarding the secretary-general's other proposals to speed up the process, Morocco has renewed to the secretary-general its remarks, comments and suggestions and asked for clarifications, the Moroccan diplomat said, adding that Morocco is determined to carry on dialogue with the secretary-general to reach a compromise meeting its concerns and at the same time safeguarding the integrity of the plan and speeding up the referendum process.

Morocco is confident that the security council will take the appropriate measures for the identification of the 65,000 applicants whose rights were confirmed by the secretary-general's arbitration

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Annan conducted last November a North-African tour that led him to Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tindouf (stronghold of the polisario in south western Algeria) and Tunisia. The tour was meant to put on track again a much-delayed referendum, proposed in the 1980's by Rabat to determine whether the former Spanish colony, that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, sets up on its own as claimed by the Algerian-backed guerilla movement, the Polisario, or be incorporated into Morocco.

Annan proposed his own arbitration to settle the issue of the 65,000 Sahrawis, belonging to tribes to whom the Polisario is denying the right to be identified as would-be voters in the referendum.

The U.N. has so far identified 147,000 applicants wishing to take part in the referendum and announced that the identification was completed, except for the contested tribes H41, H61 and J51/52 (groups that fled the Spanish occupation and settled northward in Morocco).