Western Sahara: Annan urges POLISARIO to release remaining prisoners of war

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to the Frente POLISARIO today to speed up the release of all remaining prisoners of war as 100 freed POWs were repatriated to Morocco.

"The Secretary-General welcomes this step, which is responsive to numerous Security Council resolutions and presidential statements calling for the release of all prisoners of war," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said of today's repatriation, carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"The Secretary-General appeals to the Frente POLISARIO to accelerate the release of all remaining POWs, and urges the parties to continue to cooperate with the efforts of the ICRC to resolve the fate of all those unaccounted for since the beginning of the conflict."

Mr. Annan also urged the parties to cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to embark on early implementation of confidence-building measures, the spokesman added.