Vol. 424 No. 9
93 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current position in relation to the United Nations peace plan for the Western Sahara; and whether he expects this peace plan to succeed in the light of the many reported violations of the ceasefire.
The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative, Mr. Yaqub Khan, started negotiations in August with Morocco and the Polisario Front in order to seek agreement between them on the criteria to be applied in drawing up the list of voters eligible to take part in the proposed referendum in the Western Sahara.
Ireland fully supports the efforts of Mr. Yaqub Khan to obtain agreement on the voters' list. Although it has proved difficult to reach agreement on this question, it would not be correct to link these difficulties to violations of the ceasefire. The UN Secretary-General has reported that there were only six violations in the period June-August 1992 as against 102 in the period March-May 1992. Two of the six violations involved unauthorised troop movements by Morocco while the remaining four related to their improvements of defensive works. There were no reported incidents of intentional hostility resulting in casualties on either side.
