- The "overall improved political climate in Western Sahara" had not ended the stalemate between the parties on the core issue of how the people of the territory can exercise their right of self-determination, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report recommending a six-month extension of the UN's mission there to maintain stability.
According to the UN leader, the political climate in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara had improved since his last report on the conflict. Mr Annan especially had noted a recent "reduction in negative rhetoric and increase in high-level contacts in the region," the report said. Especially Morocco had refrained from hard-worded rhetoric against Algeria, which Rabat claims is behind the Saharawis' call for independence.
Despite these "encouraging" trends, however, "the stalemate in this long-standing conflict has left tens of thousands of Saharan refugees living in deplorable conditions, relying for their survival on the generosity of the international community," Mr Annan says in a report to the UN Security Council.
He expresses the hope that all concerned will show the political will necessary to break the current deadlock, thus enabling the UN to resume efforts to assist the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable political solution. In the meantime he urges both sides to refrain from inflammatory statements or taking actions – legal, political or military – which would complicate matters further or cause friction.
Mr Annan further said he was pleased there had been no current indications that either side plans to resume hostilities, which were formally suspended when the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) began operations in September 1991. During the last years, there had been voices among Western Sahara's exiled government, formed by the pro-independence rebels POLISARIO, to return to armed struggle if no progress is achieved.
The UN leader, on the other hand, was concerned by the violations of a military agreement between Morocco and the POLISARIO, which, among other things, prohibits tactical reinforcements and the redeployment or movement of troops in restricted areas. Several illegal movements had been observed close to the wall that separates the two parties, constructed by the Moroccan army.
Flagging a related matter, Mr Annan expresses concern at the potential dangers for civilians who enter the heavily mined buffer strip and restricted areas. In this regard, he notes that illegal migrants were particularly vulnerable, as are civilian demonstrators. There has lately been a great increase in illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, crossing the Western Sahara territory and also the mined wall.
On the UN Security Council's request that he examine the possibility of reducing the size of the peacekeeping mission, Mr Annan says that he remains convinced that this would not be advisable at this stage. Given the situation on the ground, MINURSO should be in the position "to provide adequate and effective monitoring of the ceasefire," and, at a minimum, be maintained at its current strength through 31 October.
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