Under the mandate given by UN Security Council Resolution 1359, the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General, Mr. James Baker, is pursuing two tracks. One of them is the UN settlement plan, which provides for the holding of a referendum to determine the future status of Western Sahara. This plan has been stalemated for a number of years. The other track is the framework agreement, which provides for a measure of autonomy now, followed by a referendum in five years time.
From the Secretary General's interim report to the Security Council of 10 January, it would appear that little progress has been made on the framework agreement proposals put forward by Mr. Baker in June. These have been rejected as a basis for negotiations by the POLISARIO and by the Government of Algeria.