may have "improperly influenced Sahrawi tribal leaders who live in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara." The UN moved 373 peacekeepers into the area to help validate Western Saharan voters. Polisario believed that Morocco was identifying tribal groups as voters who did not have a close connection to Western Sahara. During this time, King Hassan also moved 37,000 people from Morocco into Western Sahara to act as potential voters, which "infuriated Polisario and shocked the peacekeepers." Polisario believed that limiting voters to those were listed as "Western Saharan" on the 1974 Spanish census would lead to a vote for independence and did not want additional voters identified. During the voter registration process, United Nations personnel faced further difficulties in deploying MINURSO peacekeepers from Morocco and the Moroccan government forbid Western Saharans from making contact with any foreign person. Polisario also interrupted the voter identification process, during which they questioned the integrity of MINURSO. The process stalled in 1995, during which the United Nations Security Council was sent to assess the situation, the consequences of which raised the stakes of the process for all parties involved. By 1996, recommendations for complete withdrawal of peacekeepers and the suspension of the voter registration process were called for by the UN Secretary General. In 1996, Eric Jensen, the Acting Special Representative, attempted to renegotiate the process, with little success. In 1997, former United States Secretary of State, James Baker, was appointed as a UN envoy by new UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. The initial peace talks left many people in the area hopeful. First Baker reviewed the prior proposals and consulted with all parties involved. He, along with Chester A. Crocker and John R. Bolton, conducted private talks with Polisario and Morocco along with Algeria and Mauritania acting as observers. Eventually, the talks, which covered the "issues of refugees, reduction of Moroccan troops, prisoners of war and political prisoners," along with an agreement on a code of conduct for the voter registration, eventually led to the Houston Agreement. Voter identification began again on December 3, 1997. A referendum was meant to occur by 1998. However, due to Morocco's refusal to accept the census results, and thus unlikelihood of accepting referendum based on the voters proposed, the UN Secretary General suspended the Settlement Plan. In 1999, King Hassan died and Mohammed VI took over. King Mohammed "strongly reasserted Morocco's claim to the region." Also in 1999, Abdelaziz