From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:MOROCCO: Peace plan for Western Sahara stalled
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:23:56 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: MOROCCO: Peace plan for Western Sahara stalled


an inter press service feature

by barbara borst

paris, dec 26 (ips) -- prospects for a referendum on the disputed
territory of western sahara look bleak as relations between its
rulers morocco and the pro-independence polisario front continue
to sour.

a team of 350 united nations observers in the area report that a
ceasefire has held since september 1991, u.n. sources say both
sides have blocked serious efforts to establish a peace process.

the latest, a u.n.-led meeting in geneva of sahraoui tribal
chiefs this month, collapsed before it started because polisario
objected to the presence of chiefs not on the original list.

morocco and polisario (popular front for the liberation of
saguiet el hamra and rio de oro) have yet to agree on the basic
terms of the peace process, such as who will be eligible to vote
in the referendum which would determine whether the territory
becomes independent or is ruled by morocco.

and they have profoundly different interpretations of the april
1990 peace treaty and of history.

moroccan sources say their government accepts the terms of the
treaty and considers the western saharah an integral part of the
kingdom. while welcoming the referendum, they blame polisario for
delays and claim that polisario defectors say sahraoui refugees in
algeria are held against their will.

however, sayed baba, the paris representative for polisario,
(formed in 1973 to resist spanish, moroccan and mauritanian claims
on the territory) accused morocco of holding sahraoui political
prisoners.

despite the much publicised defections, the front feels it is
still in a strong position, due to the ending of the cold war that
favoured morocco, because u.n. credibility is at stake and because
of algeria's continuing support.

''we always have the possibility of continuing the resistance -
the king (of morocco) is not eternal, '' baba said. ''the
challenge now is to use time. who will resist to the end, the king
or us? i think we will.''

a u.n. source said that polisario ''being the weaker party is
trying to have everything its way.'' but a recent vote in morocco
on constitutional amendments, which was widely criticised as being
unfair, had fueled polisario fears of rigging if there is a
referendum on western sahara.  (more/ips)

morocco: peace plan for western sahara stalled(2-e)

the major problem is that ''whoever loses the referendum might
lose everything,'' added the source. the u.n. special
representative for the western sahara, yacoub khan, is expected to
deliver a report on the situation in january, after which the
security council may consider action to restart the peace process.

the core of the present dispute is the voter list. the polisario
insists that the 1974 spanish census of western sahara be the
exclusive basis of for voting. morrocco contends that although a
good basis, the census could be used to exclude sahraouis already
under morroccan rule at that time.

''last year, when morrocco was concerned that those people would
not be considered eligible, it sent tens of thousands back into
the territory to be present for the vote,'' the source said,
adding that the u.n. security council assigned the peacekeepers
the task of identifying voters.

some observers claim that morrocco has unofficially annexed the
territory and that a weakened polisario is waiting for algeria to
regain its strength before pushing the issue.

u.n. sources said their organisation is determined to continue
the peace process but reluctant to rush it for fear that whichever
party loses the referendum would then restart the conflict.
despite its wish not to be left with ''another cyprus -- 30 years
of peacekeeping without solving the problem,'' the u.n. does not
wish to withdraw, they said, for fear the battle would recommence.

at stake is control of 266,000 square kilometres of mostly desert
and the fate of 200,000 to one million people, depending whose
figures are believed.

the conflict began during the colonial era when spain, which
controlled the coast, seized the interior. after the spanish
withdrew in 1975, morocco occupied the northern sector and
mauritania the southern, where it battled with polisario.

mauritania signed a peace treaty with polisario in 1979 and
withdrew. morocco, which claims the whole region was historically
a part of its kingdom, then moved into the south as well. the
referendum set to follow a 1981 ceasefire never came off, and
morocco built a 700km-long wall across the area between 1981 and
1984.

the polisario, which gained recognition at the u.n. and the
organisation of african unity, claims the 1975 ruling by the
international court of justice proves its claims to independence.
morocco says it proves the territory's historical ties to the
kingdom.

a u.n. source said the court made a complex ''solomon judgement''
that recognises both traditional allegiance of sahraoui leaders to
the moroccan king and the right of the sahraouis to self-
determination. (end/ips/np/bb/mt/92)
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