Polisario insists on referendum for Western Sahara

ALGIERS, Dec 31

(Reuters)

- The Polisario Front, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara, on
Tuesday urged U.N. envoy James Baker to set a referendum date for the vast
desert territory's future when he visits the region in mid-January.

Baker, a former U.S. secretary of state, plans to visit Morocco, Algeria,
Mauritania and the Algerian town of Tindouf, where the Polisario Front is
based, U.N. sources said.

Algeria's official APS news agency said the trip would start on January 14. It
did not say where but diplomatic sources in the Moroccan capital Rabat said
Morocco would be the first stop.

Baker's trip, at U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's request, will be his
latest attempt to resolve a long impasse over the former Spanish colony which
Morocco annexed in 1976.

U.N. efforts to organise a referendum to give less than half a million Western
Saharans a choice between independence or integration with Morocco have been
bogged down for 10 years because of differences over who was eligible to vote.

((Writing by Gilles Trequesser, editing by Stephen Weeks; Reuters Messaging:
gilles.trequesser.reuters.com@...; Rabat newsroom, +212 37 720065))
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rocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C
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Forwarded by:
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Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
wsahara@...

*** Referendum now! ***
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update
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