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The UN Security Council has extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to 14 December as recommended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a report on Thursday.
The extension, awarded on Monday, will enable the United Nations to finish registering voters, processing appeals and repatriating refugees ahead of the referendum - scheduled for the year 2000 - which will determine whether Western Sahara is to gain full independence or become part of Morocco.
MINURSO was set up under a 1988 Settlement Plan to monitor a ceasefire between the Moroccan army and guerrillas of the Polisario Front fighting for independence for the former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975. Its tasks also include identifying and registering eligible voters.
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