The UN Secretary General has announced 31 July 2000 as the date for a referendum in the disputed Western Sahara, a UN official told IRIN on Wednesday. The poll will decide if the territory will integrate with Morocco or become an independent state. The referendum had been delayed by arguments over who is eligible to vote with each side accusing the other of swelling numbers to influence the result of the poll, BBC reported. The former Spanish colony was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
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