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September 2, 2000

The UN has extended its MINSURO mission in the former Spanish Sahara through the end of October. The mission, with 750 personnel, has been in place since 1991. It was expected to last only a year until a referendum could be held on whether the area wants to be part of Morocco or a separate country. The problem is that neither side (the Polisario rebels or the Moroccan government) can agree on who gets to vote. The government wants recent pro-Morocco settlers to vote but the rebels (most of whom are at base camps in Algeria) to be kept out, while the rebels want the settlers excluded from voter lists and their own "refugees" allowed to vote.--Stephen V Cole