Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara Third ... - Scarecrow Press

CHRONOLOGY • xxxix
they would support “some devolution of governmental authority” in the
territory that would be a departure from the 1990–91 referendum plan.
December 17: The Polisario Front releases 201 Moroccan prisoners of
war as a goodwill gesture.
2001 January 1–7: War almost erupts in Western Sahara as the annual
Paris-Dakar road rally is scheduled to pass through the territory and
Polisario states that this is a violation of its sovereignty; hostilities do not
resume after appeals from the OAU and Algeria. February–May: UN
Special Envoy James Baker continues his efforts to find an alternative
solution to the conflict outside the original peace plan. June 20: James
Baker’s Framework Agreement Proposal for Western Sahara is made
public by the UN; it calls for autonomy in purely local matters by the Saharawi
people while reserving overall sovereignty to Morocco under a
provisional executive-legislative arrangement for a five-year period; after
this time, a referendum would be conducted; the proposal is immediately
denounced by Algeria and by the Polisario Front; Baker later admits
that key elements of his plan had their origins in Morocco. June 29:
The UN Security Council, neither accepting nor rejecting Baker’s proposal,
extends the mandate of MINURSO to November 30, 2001 (Resolution
1359). August 27–29: James Baker meets with Moroccan and
Polisario representatives at his ranch at Pinedale, Wyoming; Algeria and
Mauritania also take part. October 30: William Eagleton resigns as UN
Special Representative; William Lacy Swing takes his place. November
7: Sidi Mohammed Daddach, a prominent Saharawi political prisoner,
is freed after being jailed for 25 years.
2002 January 29: In a letter to the UN Security Council, the UN’s
undersecretary-general for legal affairs, Hans Corell, states that Morocco
may not enter into contracts for the extraction of petroleum
from Western Sahara while the status of the territory remains unresolved;
the opinion is considered a clear victory for the Polisario Front.
April 19: In a further report to the Security Council, Kofi Annan warns
of grave humanitarian difficulties in Polisario’s Tindouf-area refugee
camps; he also says James Baker is still attempting mediation. June
18: Polisario releases a further 104 Moroccan prisoners of war. July
30: The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1429, extending MIN-
URSO’s mandate to January 31, 2003, an unusually long period of
time. September 30: Ayoub Lahbib, a top Polisario official, defects