Editing Western Sahara (section)

=== Baker Plan ===
{{Main|Baker Plan}}
As personal envoy of the Secretary-General, [[James Baker]] visited all sides and produced the document known as the "Baker Plan".<ref name="UN_S2000461">{{cite web |id=S-2000-461 |access-date=10 August 2007|publisher=[[United Nations Security Council]] |url=https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S/2000/461 |title=Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara |date=22 May 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923042559/https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n00/430/35/pdf/n0043035.pdf |archive-date= 2024-09-23}}</ref> This was discussed by the [[United Nations Security Council]] in 2000, and envisioned an autonomous [[Western Sahara Authority]] (WSA), which would be followed after five years by the referendum. Every person present in the territory would be allowed to vote, regardless of birthplace and with no regard to the Spanish census. It was rejected by both sides, although it was initially derived from a Moroccan proposal. According to Baker's draft, tens of thousands of post-annexation immigrants from Morocco proper (viewed by Polisario as settlers but by Morocco as legitimate inhabitants of the area) would be granted the vote in the Sahrawi independence referendum, and the ballot would be split three ways by the inclusion of an unspecified "[[Autonomous administrative division|autonomy]]", further undermining the independence camp. Morocco was also allowed to keep its army in the area and retain control over all security issues during both the autonomy years and the election. In 2002, the Moroccan king stated that the referendum idea was "out of date" since it "cannot be implemented";<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.countrywatch.com/facts/facts_default.aspx?type=text&topic=SEWSA |title=CountryWatch&nbsp;– Interesting Facts of the World |publisher=Countrywatch.com |access-date=13 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005160618/http://www.countrywatch.com/facts/facts_default.aspx?type=text&topic=SEWSA |archive-date=5 October 2008}}</ref> Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it to take place.

In 2003, a new version of the plan was made official, with some additions spelling out the powers of the WSA, making it less reliant on Moroccan [[devolution]]. It also provided further detail on the referendum process in order to make it harder to stall or subvert. This second draft, commonly known as Baker II, was accepted by the Polisario as a "basis of negotiations" to the surprise of many.<ref>Shelley, Toby. ''[http://www.merip.org/mero/mero080103.html Behind the Baker Plan for Western Sahara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210082330/http://www.merip.org/mero/mero080103.html |date=10 December 2006}}'', Middle East Report Online, 1 August 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2006.</ref> This appeared to abandon Polisario's previous position of only negotiating based on the standards of voter identification from 1991 (i.e. the Spanish census). After that, the draft quickly garnered widespread international support, culminating in the UN Security Council's unanimous endorsement of the plan in the summer of 2003.