The Polisario Front said on July 27 that it was "frustrated by underground manoeuvres" aimed at derailing the United Nations peace plan in Western Sahara. Kamal Fadel, the Australian representative of the Western Sahara independence movement, warned: "If Morocco continues in its current irresponsible and provocative attitude a return to war is inevitable."
On July 31, a United Nations referendum was supposed to be held in Western Sahara. However, the delaying tactics of Morocco, the occupying power, and the UN's inability to put pressure on the Moroccan regime have once again prevented the organisation of the referendum. The referendum was originally to be organised in 1992 but has been delayed many times due to Morocco's fear of losing the referendum.
Morocco continues to sabotage the referendum, claiming that 13,000 of Moroccan citizens are entitled to take part in the vote. After a gruelling five-year identification process, the UN published lists of those entitled to vote in the referendum in January. Morocco rejected the results of the voter identification process leading to an indefinite delay in the referendum process.
In May and June, former US secretary of state James Baker chaired talks between both parties in London but failed to produce any positive results. On July 20 and 21, delegations representing Morocco and the Polisario Front met in Geneva under UN auspices. Morocco again refused to seriously discuss the differences over the referendum and on the second day refused to attend the meetings.
Malaine Sedik, ambassador of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in Algeria, said that the meeting was supposed to deal with the issue of voters' roll. "However, the Moroccan delegation withdrew when the question was raised, declaring that it was not empowered to speak on the subject", he said.
Sedik said if the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara was manipulated to endorse the position of Morocco, then it would become irrelevant to the efforts to settle the dispute.
"Without the backing of the international community, the referendum is unlikely to go ahead. We call on the international community to put pressure on Morocco in order to avoid a UN failure in Western Sahara and a return to hostilities", Fadel said.
For more information on the Saharawi people's struggle for independence visit .