Referendum in Sahara will be held in march 2000, minister says

The Moroccan minister of the interior said the referendum in the Sahara will be held in March 2000 "Morocco will go to the referendum at any cost," Driss Basri said in an interview published this Thursday by the London-based Arabic language daily Al-Hayat.

In his interview with Al-Hayat, Basri insisted "there is no other solution to the Sahara issue" (other than the referendum), and this is why, Morocco is concentrating efforts and action on holding the consultation.

"There is no reason for us to lose it," he said, excluding any other formula to settle the dossier.

The minister stressed the need to entitle all Sahara-born citizens to participate in the referendum. "This problem will not prevent us from going to the referendum, and the unanimity of the Moroccan people and its mobilization behind King Hassan II, consolidate and back Morocco's position in this regard."

Basri recalled the accords concluded with the United Nations Secretary-general, Kofi Annan, during his recent visit to the region.

The accords deal with setting the juridical and administrative frame of the U.N. mission in charge of holding the referendum (MINURSO), formalizing the presence of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), preparing the return of refugees, the deployment of U.N. forces and working out a final time-table for the holding of the referendum.

"In the event of a deadlock in the referendum process, the U.N. will have to decide. In any case, we are on our lands," Basri underlined.