From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: WESTERN SAHARA: Secretary General r
Originator: @gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 23:53:50 GMT

Title: WESTERN SAHARA: Secretary General reports little progress


new york, aug 24 (ips/appan menon) -- after 17 years of war in the
desert, peace remains elusive as ever for the people of western
sahara.

almost a year has passed since morocco and the polisario front
agreed to a ceasefire in the war to implement a peace plan under
u.n. supervision.

but in a report released monday, the u.n. secretary general
observed that the parties to the conflict have yet to show how
''willing'' they were ''to advance in real and concrete terms
towards the holding of a referendum.''

the u.n.-supervised referendum, according to the peace plan,
envisages asking the people of western sahara, a former spanish
colony now under moroccan rule, whether they want to be
independent or remain a part of morocco.

morocco claims the territory as a consequence of the madrid
agreement of 1975.  the polisario front, fighting for the
territory's indpendence, says the process of decolonisation of
western sahara has been hijacked by morocco and is yet to be
completed.

a majority of the organisation of africa unity (oau) members
recognise the sahrawi arab democratic republic (sadr), as the
polisario front calls western sahara.

and implicitly the u.n. supports the contention that the people
of the territory have the right to self determination, hence the
provision for a referendum in the peace plan.

the secretary general's report based on the efforts of his
special representative, sahibzada yakub khan of pakistan, tries to
steer clear of blame while describing the difficulties confronting
the un mission for the referendum in western sahara (minurso).

but the facts point to moroccan unwillingness to accept a free
and fair referendum under u.n. auspices.

the report says clearly that a majority of the ceasefire
violations have been committed by the moroccan side.

the only positive note is that of the 102 violations registered
in the preceding three-month period, the total for the june-august
period had come down to six violations.
(more/ips)

western sahara: secretary general (2)

during the negotiations with the special representative both
sides were asked to give assurances that they would respect the
results of the referendum, whatever the outcome.

while the polisario front spelt out in ''considerable detail''
its position in case the result was for independence or for
integration, morocco deliberately kept its assurances vague.

on the ground, however, the morocco's actions appear more
obstructionist. it has announced plans to hold next month
municipal, legislative elections and a plebiscite on
constitutional reform in morocco, including in moroccan occupied
western sahara.

as the elections are timed to precede the u.n. supervised
referendum, morocco clearly has signalled its lack of faith in the
u.n. exercise.

the secretary general has appealed to morocco to ''postpone'' the
elections.  morocco has declined and has instead given a written
commitment saying that the elections were ''quite independent of
and separate from the holding of the referendum.''

this has not satisfied the polisario front which sees it as a
tactic to dilute the u.n. peace plan. the front has warned that it
will be forced to resume hostilities, if the moroccan's
unilaterally choose to violate the plan.

but the report points to a more fundamental disagreement
between the two sides. it involves the question of who will be
allowed to vote in the referendum or as the report calls it ''the
criteria for eligibility.''

the polisario front says the 1974 spanish census, published a
year before spain left the colony, should be the basis of the list
of voters prepared by the u.n.

the u.n. has verified a provisional list of 70,000 voters on the
basis of the spanish census. this has satisfied polisario but
morocco wants to triple the number of voters on the list to
include those who reportedly went north and are now being brought
back to the territory by the moroccan government.

according to a jun. 11 report in the boston-based 'christian
science monitor', ''daily, military transport vehicles drive into
towns such as el aiyun, the capital, and smara, closer to the
estern front, filled with civilians prepared to vote for
morocco.''

in talks scheduled for tuesday, the secretary general's special
representative faces an uphill task in making ''real and concrete
advance'' towards a referendum.

sahibzada yakub khan will have to convince the polisario front of
the futility of resuming hostilities. and he will have to use all
his skills to persuade morocco that only a referendum, held
without fear and intimidation and under u.n. supervison can lead
to lasting peace in western sahara. (end/ips/ip/am/jemg/92)


-- 
Mr. Aaron Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us -- posting from Evanston, Illinois