Some 25,000 people celebrate Morocco's success after publishing of MINURSO's provisional lists

Some 25,000 people celebrated on Tuesday the success won by Morocco following the publishing last week by the MINURSO of the provisional lists of persons entitled to vote in the self-determination referendum the United Nations plans to hold in the Sahara.

The 25,000 people rallied at the Mohammed Laghdaf sports complex in Laayoune in presence of a seven-member ministerial delegation.

The lists --which cover the two first identification stages carried out from August 28, 1994 to December 22, 1995 and from December 3, 1997 to September 3, 1998-- showed that the majority of people accepted to vote in the referendum actually reside in Morocco.

According to the lists, some 84,251 persons were identified and found to be entitled to vote in the referendum. The lists show that 46,255 of the eligible voters live in Morocco, 33,786 in the Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria) and 4,210 in Mauritania.

Last week, Morocco voiced satisfaction that the majority of Sahrawis were proved to live in the Kingdom.

The referendum, slated for July, 2000, seeks to determine whether the Sahara --a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords-- sets up on its own or remains part of Morocco.