S/PV.4080 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, document S/1999/1219. Members of the Council also have before them document S/1999/1239, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. I shall first give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

My delegation firmly believes in the inalienable rights of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence. We also believe that the United Nations Settlement Plan for Western Sahara remains the only credible mechanism to achieve this. This plan has the full support of the Organization of African Unity. With regard to our work of today, my delegation would have preferred a technical resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara to 29 February 2000, as recommended by the Secretary-General. This would have been more appropriate while we are awaiting a more comprehensive The draft resolution before us today, in our view, does not represent faithfully the content of the last report of the Secretary-General. Furthermore, it is selective in its approach and ignores crucial concerns previously expressed by the Council. An obvious example of this is the omission of reference to the concern expressed by the Council in resolutions 1238 (1999) and 1263 (1999), which, inter alia, stated that the appeals process should not be turned into a new round of identification. Furthermore, it is our view that the draft resolution paints a negative picture, which might negatively affect the implementation of the settlement plan and would send a wrong message to the international community. It is for these reasons that my delegation cannot support the draft resolution before us.

I now put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/1999/1239.

The result of the voting is as follows: 14 votes in favour, none against and 1 abstention. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 1282 (1999). The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.