United Nations

Security Council

S/RES/1163 (1998)
17 April 1998

The Security Council,

Recalling all its previous resolutions on the question of the Western Sahara,

Reaffirming its full support for the Secretary-General, his Personal Envoy, his Special Representative and the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in the implementation of the Settlement Plan and the agreements reached by the two parties for its implementation, and recalling that under these agreements the responsibility for implementing the identification process lies with the Identification Commission,

Reiterating its commitment to assist the parties to achieve a just and lasting solution to the question of the Western Sahara,

Reiterating also its commitment to the holding without further delay of a free, fair and impartial referendum for the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara in accordance with the Settlement Plan, which has been accepted by the two parties,

Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General of 13 April 1998 (S/1998/316) and supporting the observations and recommendations contained therein,

1. Decides to extend the mandate of MINURSO until 20 July 1998, in order that MINURSO may proceed with its identification tasks, with the aim of completing the process;

2. Calls upon the parties to cooperate constructively with the United Nations, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Identification Commission established pursuant to the Settlement Plan in order to complete the identification of voters phase of the Settlement Plan and the agreements reached for its implementation;

3. Notes the continuing deployment of the engineering units required for demining activities and of the administrative staff required to support the deployment of military personnel as proposed in annex II of the report of the Secretary-General of 13 November 1997 (S/1997/882), as further described in the recommendations of the report of the Secretary-General of 13 April 1998;

4. Expresses again its intention to consider positively the request for the remaining additional military and police assets for MINURSO as proposed in annex II of the report of the Secretary-General of 13 November 1997, as soon as the Secretary-General reports that the identification process has reached a stage which makes the deployment of these assets essential;

5. Calls on the Governments of Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania to conclude respective status-of-forces agreements with the Secretary-General, and recalls that pending the conclusion of such agreements, the model status-of-forces agreement dated 9 October 1990 (A/45/594), as provided for in General Assembly resolution 52/12 B, should apply provisionally;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every 30 days from the date of extension of the mandate of MINURSO on the progress of the implementation of the Settlement Plan and the agreements reached between the parties, and to keep the Council regularly informed of all significant developments in the interim period, and, as appropriate, on the continuing viability of the mandate of MINURSO;

7. Decides to remain seized of the matter.