MINURSO suspends identification operations for a week following king's demise

Following the death of king Hassan II last Friday, the UN mission supervising the referendum in the Sahara (MINURSO) decided to suspend for a week all identification and appeals operations of persons entitled to vote in the self-determination referendum the UN is planning to hold in the Sahara by July 2000.

A statement released by the MINURSO says the identification commission will resume its activities as of August 2.

The identification commission published by mid-July the provisional lists of persons entitled to participate in the referendum 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.

The commission has so far identified some 84,251 eligible voters.