when the Identification Operation was launched, the "polisario" has not ceased to adopt an attitude meant to block up, or at least slow the identification operation, using provocation and stalling tactics. 

The present document surveys some incidents that provoked the interruption of the identification operations, both in the Saharan provinces and in the Tindouf camps. 

24 November 1994 The former vice president of the Identification Commission, the American Frank Rudy, with the connivance of the polisario, transgressed the program set by the MINURSO with the agreement of the parties, by requiring the hearing of a sub-fraction that does not appear on the said program and of which Morocco does not have an elected cheikh nor a non-elected candidate in 1973, and can thus present only one notable who was refused by the "polisario" (Brih Mahmoud Jdoud). 

16 January 1995 The "polisario" blocked up the Identification Operation by requiring the participation of a Moroccan Cheikh who was not available for sickness (Hammadi O. Abdelhay O.Day, from the Rguibat Souaad Ahl Ba Brahim). the "polisario" pretended that "the Moroccan services made him disappear". The identification operation did not resume only 8 days later, after the MINURSO had officially noted that this Cheikh, settled in Tarfaya, was indeed sick. 

13 January 1995 The identification operation was, stopped at the center of Laayoune at 11 o'clock, at the intervention of Omar Mansour, observer of the polisario, after the hearing of 40 persons over 150 scheduled for that day. The latter alleged that the cheikh, Mohamed Salem Ould Aylal, is not entitled to identify the applicants of the sub-fraction Oulad Amar (C22), as he belonged to the Ahl Ayach sub-fraction, while in reality he was from the same sub-fraction C21/22/23. Omar Mansour asked, thus, the MINURSO to replace the cheikh present in Laayoune by another one, elected in 1973, but whose name is not on the program sent to the two parties by the MINURSO at an appropriate time (January 11 1995 and confirmed on January 27 1995), or to start the hearing of the applicants of the Ahl Belgacem sub-fraction (C23) with the participation of cheikh Mohamed Salem Ould Aylal. Convinced that this was a stalling tactic by the polisario to block up again the process, and after reflection, the Moroccan party accepted the second proposal, during a meeting with Mr. ERIK JENSEN. 

Surprised by the behavior of cheikh Mohamed Salem ould Aylal, who did not implement the guidelines of his chiefs to the letter, the polisario sought by this tactic to put an end to the mission of this cheikh and repatriated him to Tindouf

6 February 1995 The Identification Operation was interrupted in Boujdour, due to the refusal of the "polisario" to accept the participation of the Moroccan cheikh (Abdellah Ahmed Bouna, Oulad Tidrarine Oulad Ali) under the pretext that he had not obtained, as non-elected candidate in 1973, enough votes during the election. The polisario required the replacement of the cheikh by another Moroccan cheikh (Brahim Salem O. Barka, of the same tribe), who was also non-elected candidate in 1973, but who had obtained more votes than the first one. Keen on unlocking the situation, the Assistant Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Erik Jensen, held a meeting on February 7 1995, with Bachir Mustapha Sayed, in Tindouf and agreed to postpone to a later date the hearing of the sub-fraction, object of dispute (Oulad Tidrarine Oulad Ali) and its replacement by the Oulad Bousbaa Tribe. 

23 February 1995 In Es Smara, the observers of the "polisario" order the cheikh using signs so that he refuses the applicants. 

In case the cheikh accepts, the observer of the "polisario", Mohamed louali Laakik, suspends the session without referring to the head of the bureau and drags the cheikh outside the room to reprimand him. 

7 March 1995 The polisario informed at the latest minute that the chioukhs who were to be posted in Dakhla and in Boujdour, were abroad. It was not thus possible to resume the operation at the set date (March 07 1994). 

20 and 30 March 1995 In Boujdour, the observer of the "polisario", Lahritani Lahcen, distinguished himself during these two days of the identification of the sub-fraction Ahl Taleb Ali G32, by a behavior that is contrary to his mission as observer, by proceeding in many times to the distribution of mail (letters, photos and cassettes) coming from Tindouf and sent to the inhabitants of Boujdour, which spoiled the running of the operation. 5 April 1995 The behavior of the observer of the polisario, in Es Smara, El Ouali Laakik, was behind many suspensions during the hearings of that day. Mohamed El Ouali Laakik required the members of the Identification Operation to write their observations on the hearings note before the cheikh signs them. This is completely contrary to the procedure followed up to the day, because the observations of the commission are confidential. The officials of the MINURSO who showed intransigence, held contacts with M'hamed Khaddad to unlock the situation. They explained to him that the observations of the members of the commission cannot be revealed to the parties. The representative of the polisario, who saw that his attempt failed at the intransigence of the officials of the identification commission, changed his attitude to only asking to cite on the note the "YES" or the "NO" of the testimony of their cheikh. The situation was thus unlocked because the note set by the MINURSO for the oral testimonies of the chioukhs automatically includes this. 

10 April 1995 The identification operation was interrupted in the city of Laayoune and in the "Dakhla camp", in Tindouf. The "polisario" pretends that its cheikh, who was to be sent to Laayoune, was not ready. During the meeting between Erik Jensen and Bachir Mustapha Sayed in Rabouni (April 7 1995), the "polisario" had said that this same cheikh was ready (Ahmed Fal M'hamed Mohamed Yahdih, from the Izzerguiennes tribe). Concerning the "Dakhla camp" (Tindouf), the "polisario", which was officially informed by the MINURSO physicians, of the unavailability of the Moroccan cheikh for sickness reasons, did not accept the resumption of the identification operation in this camp with another cheikh (notable) proposed by Morocco and accepted by the MINURSO (Rguibat Oulad Moussa). 

20 April 1995 In the "Smara Camp", in Tindouf, the Identification Operation was interrupted because the "polisario" did not accept the son of the cheikh proposed by Morocco (Hassana O. Mohamed El Houcine, Rguibat oulad Moussa tribe, Oulad Sidi H'mad ou Moussa sub-fraction ), under the pretext that he was not the eldest of his brothers. N.B. Morocco does not have for this sub-fraction any cheikh elected in 1973 nor a non-elected candidate. The eldest son claimed by the polisario is in fact settled in the Tindouf camps. 

24 April 1995 The "polisario" delegation, operating in Smara, refused to participate in the identification operation in the presence of the head of the identification center, Togolese WILLIAM Shippius, and Egyptian Salaheddine Zaki from the commission. The "polisario" accuses the two officials of being pro-Moroccan. WILLIAM Shippius intervened in many times to call to order the observers of the "polisario", oubaid Louchaa and Mohamed El ouali Laakik, who seized any opportunity to provoke disputes with the Moroccan observers and interrupt thus the hearing of applicants. The identification operation resumed on May 25 1995 in the absence of two members of the identification commission, who were summoned to Laayoune for consultation with the Assistant Special Representative of the Secretary General, Erik Jensen. 

26 April 1995 The identification operation was interrupted in the "Aousserd camp" (Tindouf), following the refusal of the "polisario" to allow the Moroccan delegation, operating in the camp, to reside with the other Moroccan delegation dispatched to the "Laayoune Camp". Applying the principle of reciprocity (as the operation was interrupted in the "Aousserd camp", the "polisario" called back its delegation operating in the city of dakhla (Morocco), interrupting thus the identification operation in this city. 

27 April 1995 The identification operation was interrupted in the "Laayoune Camp" (Tindouf), because the "polisario" transgressed the hearings program by presenting additional lists of applicants who are not concerned by the hearings. Applying the principle of reciprocity (as the identification operation was interrupted in the "laayoune camp"), the "polisario" called back its delegation operating in the city of Smara (Morocco), interrupting thus the identification operation in this city. 

25 May 1995 The "polisario" deliberately interrupted the indetification operation in the "Dakhla Camp" (Tindouf), by refusing the implementation of the recommendations of the MINURSO, contained in its letter sent to the parties in February 1995. The letter stipulates that in case of unavailability of the "titular cheikh" (the cheikh elected in 1973, his eldest son or the non elected candidate in 1973 who won the highest number of votes), the party concerned by the unavailability presents a list of three (3) notables, among whom the identification commission designates one to replace the unavailable cheikh, after having the opinion of the other party, that should under strict obligation be expressed within a three-day deadline. 

In the present case, Morocco, whose titular cheikh is unavailable, presented a list of three notables within the legal deadlines, and the "polisario" did not give its opinion, which block up the identification operation in the "Dakhla Camp". 

The "polisario" not only refused to respond to the Moroccan proposal, sponsored by the identification commission, but it has also applied the principle of reciprocity, by provoking the blocking up of the identification operation in the centers of Dakhla and Boujdour, through its refusal to send its delegation to Boujdour on May 25, 26 1995 and to Dakhla on May 29 1995,

24 May 1995 In the "Laayoune" camp, 18 persons were present instead of 240 persons summoned from the Slalka sub-fraction. 

7 June 1995 The identification operation did not took place in the afternoon in Boujdour, due to the refusal of the "polisario" delegation to sit at the center in the absence of the African observer, Senegalese Marcel Diouf, who went to Laayoune to participate in a meeting with the members of the UNO mission which was visiting the city. 

21 June 1995 In the camp of "Aousserd" only one person showed up during this day. The identification operation did not take place in the morning in Es Smara, because cheikh Abdati O. Sidi O. Mohamed O. Abdeljalil "fp" was not brought by the MINURSO. 

7 August 1995 The identification operation was interrupted in Dakhla due to the absence of cheikh Abdati O. Sidi O. Mohamed O. Abdeljalil "fp". 

16 August 1995 The identification operation did not take place in the morning in the center of Es Smara, because cheikh Lella O. Lahcen O. Bounane "fp" came late. 

3 October 1995 The cheikh of the polisario, the named Bouih M'bouirik DAF, from the Layaycha Tribe (Rguibat Charg), refused to sit at the Identification Commission, Laayoune center, in the morning of October 3 1995, as long as he did not see his daughter, the named Anna Bouih M'bouirik (N_ MINURSO 239774). The latter was, however, present in the yard awaiting her turn to be heard. The session did not start until 11 o'clock in the morning. 

5 October 1995 During the hearing of the Fokra Ahl El Majid fraction, Laayoune Center, the observer of the polisario, the named Obeid Louchaa, refused during the pause of the morning to carry on the hearing of applicants under the pretext that the rhythm of the hearings was two fast. This led to the halt of the operation for one hour. The session resumed until 11:30 to finish at 12:15. 

30 October 1995 At the Laayoune Identification Center, the Identification Commission has not yet started to work to date because of the refusal of the Polisario delegation to comply with the security measures at the Laayoune airport. When called on by the MINURSO to comply with these measures in use all over the world, the delegation left back for Tindouf. 

3 November 1995 The Identification Operation did not take place at the Laayoune camp (Lahmada) because the Polisario cheikh was absent.