Western Sahara: 100 Moroccan Pows Released

Western Sahara: UN Mission Welcomes Planned Release Of 100 Moroccan Pows

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has welcomed the announcement yesterday by the Frente POLISARIO that it intends to free 100 Moroccan prisoners of war.

A UN spokesman in New York said the mission hoped for an early release of all remaining POWs, in compliance with international humanitarian law. It also called on the parties to cooperate with the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross to resolve the fate of all those unaccounted for since the beginning of the conflict.

Following the agreement between Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro, the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was deployed in September 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would allow the people of Western Sahara to decide the Territory's future status.

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