Annan proposes two-month extension for MINURSO

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed a two-month extension of the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to give more time to the mission, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front to implement a new peace plan, the UN reported on Tuesday. In a report to the Security Council, Annan urged the Council to extend until 31 July MINURSO's mandate which expires on 31 May. This, he said, would allow the parties to the conflict to examine a new peace plan which contains elements from both the draft framework supported by Morocco and a settlement plan backed by the POLISARIO. "The new peace plan, a sort of comprise...envisages a period of transition during which there would be a division of responsibilities between the parties before the holding of a referendum for self-determination," the UN reported on Tuesday. "And unlike the settlement plan, the peace plan does not require the consent of both parties at each and every step of its implementation." MINURSO was first deployed to the northwestern African territory in 1991 to settle a territorial dispute that erupted in 1975 between Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO). The dispute started after the colonial power, Spain pulled out and Morocco annexed the territory. POLISARIO started to fight for independence. MINURSO has failed to organise a referendum due to disagreements between the concerned parties, although the armed conflict ended in 1991. Morocco favours a draft framework which would confer on the population of Western Sahara the right to elect their executive and legislative bodies, and have exclusive control over local government administration. It would give the population oversight in an eventual referendum on a final status of the territory. But POLISARIO wants a settlement plan which calls for a popular vote to allow the people of Western Sahara to choose between independence or integration with Morocco. The Council was due to discuss Annan's proposal on Wednesday.