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01:32 p.m Apr 14, 1998 Eastern
By Anthony Goodman
UNITED NATIONS, April 14 (Reuters) -
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday a May 31 target date for completing the identification of potential voters in a referendum on the future of Western Sahara was unlikely to be met.
If sufficient progress were not made by the end of June, he would recommend that the Security Council ``reconsider the viability of the mandate'' of the U.N. operation in the disputed territory, he said.
Annan's comments were contained in his latest written report to the council on plans for the much-delayed referendum, originally set for January 1992 and most recently scheduled for Dec. 7 this year.
The vote is to decide whether Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, should be incorporated into Morocco, which controls most of the territory, or become independent, as sought by the Polisario Front.
A U.N.-monitored cease-fire between the two sides has been in force since September 1991 but the referendum has been repeatedly postponed because of differences over who should be eligible to vote, with Morocco
and Polisario accusing each other of trying to pack the electoral rolls.
Annan said the latest delay was due to a slowdown in identification activities in February and March and lack of progress in resolving issues linked to the identification of applicants from three disputed tribal groups.
In addition, a climate of mutual mistrust between the two sides had not helped the task of the U.N. operation, called the U.N. Mission
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for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
Annan said the months of May and June would be crucial for determining whether the identification of all remaining applicants could be completed by the end of July and whether a solution could be found to the problem of the three disputed tribal groups.
He said the total number of people so far identified was 101,772 and fewer than 60,000 applicants remained to be convoked. The issue of applicants from the three disputed tribal groups, numbering some 65,000,
remained to be fully resolved.
``If, by the end of June, sufficient progress has been made in the identification process and in the search for solutions to the contentious issue of these groups, I would submit, in my next report to the Security Council, recommendations for a revised timetable for the full implementation of the settlement plan, including preparatory measures for the establishment of the Referendum Commission,'' Annan said.
``If, on the contrary, no solution has been found to the problem if the three 'contested' groups and if a large number of applicants from 'non-contested' tribes also remains to be be identified, it would be my intention to recommend that the Security Council reconsider the viability of the mandate of MINURSO.''
Annan recommended another three-month extension to July 20 of the mandate of MINURSO, which currently comprises 230 military observers andother military personnel, 79 civilian police and more than 320 civilian
staff.
REUTERS Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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