Former Nobel laureates appeal to Annan

Six former Nobel Peace Prize winners on Tuesday appealed to UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to ensure a planned referendum in Western Sahara takes place, a news release from the Oslo-based Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara said. "The credibility of the United Nations is at stake in Western Sahara," the release said. "An abandonment of the referendum plan in Western Sahara would constitute a betrayal of the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination," it added. The five are Jose Ramos-Horta (1996, East Timor), Rigoberta Menchu Tum (1992, Guatemala), Oscar Arias Sanchez (1987, Costa Rica), Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1980, Argentina), Mairead Maguire (1976, Northern Ireland), and Cora Weiss for the International Peace Bureau (1910). "We urge you to defend the integrity of the United Nations by continuing to strive for the strict implementation of the referendum as earlier agreed between the parties. This is the only path to a durable and just peace in the Maghreb," the release said. They appealed for the promotion of human rights and the protection natural resources of Western Sahara. They also urged the UN to ensure "a timely, sustained and predictable" supply of food and other necessary supplies to the Saharawi refugees in Algeria until their safe repatriation home. Western Sahara has been under occupation by Morocco for 26 years, causing enormous suffering for Saharawi and Moroccan peoples. Others have been exiled or lost their lives while resources have been squandered through war and occupation, the release added. Since 1991, the UN has tried to resolve the conflict. Its latest settlement proposal, drafted in June by former US Secretary of State James Baker III - Annan's personal envoy to Western Sahara-, offered Western Sahara limited autonomy within Morocco. The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was established in April 1991, one of its roles being to maintain peace between Morocco, which annexed Western Sahara in 1975 after Spain pulled out, and Polisario Front, which is fighting for independence.