DATE=7/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N / WESTERN SAHARA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264615
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Experts on the Western Sahara have begun
a two-day meeting at United Nations headquarters
in Geneva. They are discussing holding a possible
referendum on self-determination for the former
Spanish colony. Lisa Schlein reports that
observers say prospects for an agreement appear
bleak.
TEXT: United Nations sponsored plans to hold a
referendum on the status of Western Sahara have
been repeatedly delayed for nearly 10 years.
Differences over who should be eligible to vote
remain the major sticking point.
The Polisario Front is seeking independence for
the territory. It claims Morocco, which wants to
incorporate Western Sahara, is trying to include
people on the voter's list who have no right to
the territory.
Representatives from Morocco and the Polisario
Front are taking part in the two-day meeting.
But, observers in Geneva do not believe the two
parties will be able to bridge their differences.
They predict nothing will happen to break the
long-standing deadlock.
Spain abandoned the Western Sahara in 1976. War
broke out and Morocco annexed the territory. It
moved in many Moroccan settlers, thus changing
the composition of the territory's indigenous
inhabitants.
About 15-thousand guerrillas from the rebel
Polisario Front fought with Morocco until 1991
when the U-N negotiated a cease-fire. As part of
the agreement, a referendum to decide whether the
territory should become independent or remain
part of Morocco was to take place in 1992. That
vote never took place and remains the core issue
of this and all preceding meetings.
U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special
representative, William Eagleton, and his deputy,
John Bolton, are mediating the talks. Experts
from the U-N Refugee Agency and the International
Committee of the Red Cross also are present.
At a meeting in London last month, Mr. Annan's
personal envoy, former U-S Secretary of State
James Baker, suggested several possible
alternatives to a referendum. These include a
negotiated agreement for Western Sahara's full
integration with Morocco, a negotiated settlement
for full independence or for something in
between. The Polisario Front has rejected any
solution other than a referendum. (Signed)
NEB/LS/GE
20-Jul-2000 07:58 AM EDT (20-Jul-2000 1158 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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