Diplomats urge parties to consider new peace plan

Western diplomats have urged Morocco and Polisario to consider a new peace plan proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to advance the peace process in Western Sahara. The plan combines sections of a draft framework and a settlement plan, including suggestions from all parties to the conflict. "The new plan has taken into consideration many of the demands as possible by both sides in the conflict," a diplomat told IRIN from the Moroccan capital, Rabat, on Tuesday. "In the search of peace there are bound to be compromises that each side takes and no solution should be imposed on them. We strongly believe that the peace plan now is a good compromise," he added. The conflict between Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) broke out in 1975 when Morocco annexed the territory following Spain's withdrawal from it. While Morocco claims sovereignty over the northwest African territory, Polisario wants self-determination for its people. In 1991, the two sides signed a ceasefire and agreed to the deployment of a UN mission to keep the peace and organise a referendum to determine whether Western Sahara should be independent or integrated into Morocco. The UN mission has been able to maintain the peace but has not been able to hold the referendum as the two parties have disagreed on who should be eligible to vote. However on 11 July, the President of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain, said there was "measured progress" on Western Sahara. Following a meeting with Polisario, he added, the group had accepted the new plan developed by Annan's envoy for Western Sahara, former US Secretary of State James Baker. The plan calls for a referendum on self determination and authority in Western Sahara, within four to five years. Fifty percent of the votes would be needed to pass the referendum. Persons over 18 would be eligible to vote however they should be qualified to vote by the Identification Commission of the UN Mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as reflected on the provisional voter list of 30 December 1999. Others would be those whose names appear on the repatriation list drawn by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as of 31 October 2000, or those who have resided continuously in Western Sahara since December 1999. The plan proposes that a Western Sahara Authority (WSA) be responsible for local government, territorial budget, taxation, economic development, internal security, law enforcement, transportation, agriculture, mining, fisheries, socio-cultural affairs, education and other basic infrastructure. Morocco would be responsible for foreign relations, national security and external defence, all matters relating to the production, sale and ownership or use of weapons by the law enforcement authorities of WSA. It would also counter secessionist attempts. Unlike an earlier settlement plan, the new plan does not require the consent of both parties at every step of its implementation. Both Polisario and Morocco however had disputed the settlement plan. Polisario said it was necessary to establish an electoral body to conduct the referendum and determine who among the Saharans was eligible to vote since they lived a nomadic life. The plan, it said, provided for only 74,000 people counted in the 1974 Spanish census to take part in the referendum. Morocco said thousands of Saharan tribes people were equally qualified to vote, including those who were in the territory at the time of the census but had not been counted, those who had fled Morocco and those from Western Saharan regions that were now part of southern Morocco. It said the plan was unclear on the establishment of the identification process, the release of prisoners of war and Saharan political detainees. Morocco also expressed concern over security conditions for returnees eligible to vote and their families. During Security Council consultations last week, the US presented a draft resolution for the Council's consideration, to endorse Baker's plan. The Council planned to discuss the draft and the situation in Western Sahara on Wednesday.