The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously late Tuesday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission to the Western Sahara (MINURSO) another six months until April 2007. MINURSO was established in 1991 with an original nine-month mandate to create a referendum for the Saharawi people and to monitor the cease-fire between the Frente Polisario which represents the people in the territory and Morocco. After 15 years, there is still no sign from either party to come to a permanent solution regarding governing the territory. The Moroccan government has repeatedly promised the international community that it would present its initiative for a viable solution between Western Sahara and the Frente Polisario. No solution has been presented for over a year. "We urge Morocco to move quickly to fulfill its many promises," said U.S. counselor for political affairs William Brencick, who spoke in the council after the vote. The United States, concerned with the rising costs of U.N. peacekeeping operations, has suggested in the past that MINURSO should be phased out or dismantled. "We urge the secretary-general to call on the mechanisms and the timetable for the dismantlement of MINURSO should MINURSO continue to prove to be ineffective in fulfilling its mandate or the concerned parties prove unable to make substantial progress toward political solution," said Brencick.
