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King Says UN Referendum on

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By Nicolas Marmie

Associated Press
November 6, 2001

King Mohammed VI on Wednesday called a plan to hold a U.N.-supervised referendum on the fate of the disputed Western Sahara territory "null," the first time he publicly dismissed the years-long effort.


"The referendum project as foreseen in the U.N. plan is null because it is inapplicable," the monarch said in a speech on national television as Morocco celebrated the 27th anniversary of the so-called Green March. The march of Moroccans to the Western Sahara marked the kingdom's annexation in 1975 of the territory, the former Spanish Sahara.

The rebel Polisario Front seeking independence for the territory still supports the long-delayed referendum. The plan to hold a referendum led to the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario, ending a costly desert conflict that almost sparked war between Morocco and neighboring Algeria, where the Polisario are based.

However, efforts to identify voters have been vain with Morocco saying some 200,000 people are eligible and the Polisario saying that only some 70,000 people are true natives of the territory eligible to cast ballots. Morocco has thrown its support to a so-called "framework accord," a "third way" that would give the territory large autonomy — but under Moroccan sovereignty.

Calling the dispute an "artificial conflict," the king noted the "growing adhesion of the international community" for this path, a reference to capitals like Paris now backing the plan. Morocco has considered the Western Sahara an integral part of its territory since its annexation and refers to the vast, mineral-rich region as its "southern provinces."

Earlier Wednesday a South African official said that South African President Thabo Mbeki might use his influence as chairman of the African Union to try to mediate the conflict. Pandelani Mathoma, a top foreign ministry official, told Parliament's foreign affairs committee that Mbeki has a good relationship with all parties in the dispute and might be able to persuade them to accept a negotiated settlement.

A new approach is necessary, Mathoma said. "We have to find an African solution, because when other powers become interested they have their own interests they have to promote, while us as Africans, we really want peace and stability on the continent," Mathoma said.

The Western Sahara territory is a member of the African Union, the newly inaugurated continentwide body which Morocco refuses to join because it recognizes Western Saharan independence.


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