MFA refutes "allegations and lies" of Rabat foreign minister

Birlehlu July 12, 2014 (SPS) - Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould salek refuted the Moroccan Foreign Minister’s allegations that the task of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara is to maintain the cease-fire during his recent speech before the foreign committee in the Moroccan parliament , in a statement Friday.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted that the task of  the mission is to organize a referendum on self-determination which is hampered by Morocco as a result of its conviction of the persistence of the Saharawi people of their inalienable rights to self-determination and independence.

Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek confirmed that when the Moroccan Foreign Minister said "there is no talks outside the autonomy proposal" he betrayed the fact that the negotiations between the parties to the conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco, take place on a base defined by the resolutions of the Security Council in paragraph since 2007, which is the need to find a "just peaceful solution acceptable to both parties that ensures the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara."

Regarding the Moroccan foreign minister’s claim that there is no solution apart from what he calls "Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara," the Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that the international community does not recognize the Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, and that the International Court of Justice confirmed in its Advisory Opinion in 1975, that there are no links of sovereignty between Morocco and the Western Sahara in addition to that the Sahrawi people will know how to achieve their full sovereignty on the territory of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs called the international community, the United Nations and the African Union to exert pressure on the Moroccan occupier in order to end its military adventures in the Western Sahara and comply with the resolutions of international legitimacy. (SPS)

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Speaker of Parliament holds talks with President of Canary Regional Government

Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), July 10, 2014 (SPS) - Speaker of the Saharawi National Council (Parliament) Mr. Khatri Addouh met yesterday, Wednesday, with the President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, Mr. Paulino Rivero.

During the meeting, Mr. Addouh, also head of the Polisario Front’s delegation to the negotiations with Morocco, conveyed Saharawi President’s sincere greetings to Mr. Rivero.

The two sides examined the historic relations already exist between the Saharawi people and the Canary Islands, and Canary’s support to the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.

The Saharawi official also met with the representatives of the local trade unions and the movement of solidarity with the Saharawi people in the region. (SPS)

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Socialist International to conduct exploratory visit to Western Sahara

Mexico City, July 3, 2014 (SPS) - The Socialist International Women has agreed to organize an exploratory visit to Western Sahara, promising, at the conclusion of its Council’s meeting held in Mexico City, to set the date of the visit in the near future, said a source close to the Saharawi delegation.
 
The decision made after a request by the Saharawi delegation, inviting SI to visit the territory of Western Sahara, in the aim to assess at first hand the reality of the Saharawi people.
 
Participants at SI’s Council’s meeting, of which the representatives of African National Congress of South Africa, SWAPO of Namibia, Puerto Rican Independence Party, Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua and the Socialist Party of Spain, said the Socialist International needs to do more in order to alleviate the suffering of the Saharawi people, demanding that the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination be respected.
 
They also stressed the need to find a peaceful solution to the long-standing conflict of Western Sahara. (SPS)

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Polisario Front condemns Rabat’s apathy towards AU and UN resolutions (official)

Bir Lehlou (liberated territories), July 2, 2014 (SPS) - Saharawi government and Polisario Front have condemned Morocco’s impassiveness vis-à-vis the resolutions of the African Union and United Nations, drawing international community that Rabat practices is similar to those of Apartheid regime in South Africa.

“Morocco, which has been since 1991 blocking the organization of the referendum on self-determination and the work of UN Secretary General’s personal envoy Mr. Christopher Ross, is now refusing to cooperate with the African Union and its special envoy President Joaquim Chissano,” said a statement issued Wednesday by the Saharawi ministry of foreign affairs, following Morocco’s refusal to cooperate with the AU special envoy Mr. Joaquim Chissano, designated in the 23rd summit.

By refusing to cooperate with Mr. Chissano, said the statement, the Moroccan regime pursues the steps of the Apartheid regime, which ignored international legitimacy and the resolutions of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity.

Saharawi government stressed that the joint endeavours by the UN and OAU, now the AU, “were and will remain, as is the case in all disputes and conflicts in the continent, harmonious and integrative, where there is no rivalry nor contradiction between the two organizations that are linked by obligations of joint cooperation to resolve conflicts at the level of Africa.”

The statement, therefore, called on the UN and AU to shoulder “full responsibility” by imposing an end to the illegal Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, gross violations of human rights, war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed by Morocco against the Saharawi people. (SPS)

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ANC asks Socialist International to contribute in supporting Saharawi cause

Mexico City, July 2, 2014 (SPS) - Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) Mr. Gwede Mantashe has asked the Socialist International Women to contribute in supporting the Saharawi cause, voicing his party’s support.

In an intervention on Tuesday before the Council meeting of the Socialist International, convened in Mexico City, Mr. Mantashe called on SI to make more efforts in order to contribute to the achievement of peace in Western Sahara and in other places of the world.

He also invited the Socialist International to work for the achievement and strengthening of justice and popular participation through supporting projects and socialist policies. (SPS)

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SADR urges AU for intensifying efforts to find "just and final" solution to Saharawi issue

Malabo, June 27, 2014 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz has called on the African Union (AU) to continue intensifying efforts to push towards a "just and final" solution to Western Sahara conflict, which ensures the free expression by the Saharawi people of their will in a self-determination referendum.

Urging the international community to act in favour of "immediately halt" Morocco's looting of Saharawi people's natural resources, calling for the speedy intervention to put an end to Morocco's violations of human rights and open the territory of Western Sahara before international independent observers and journalists.

He, in this respect, hoped that the AU will, as a partner to the UN, work to implement the settlement plan, release of Saharawi political prisoners, pull down Moroccan occupation wall and establish a UN mechanism for the protection, monitoring and report about human rights abuses in occupied Western Sahara.

"The founding fathers and historic symbols of Africa, like the late Nelson Mandela, once said that Africa will not be totally free as long as there are people have yet to enjoy their right to self-determination and independence. Your brotherly Saharawi people are still waiting to enjoy this right," says President Mohamed Abdelaziz in his speech on Friday, during the discussion of the report AU Peace and Security Council.

In relevant context, the Saharawi president hailed the constant attention given by the Commission and Peace and Security Council of the African Union to the question of Western Sahara in the past period, a thing reinforced by the appointment of Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique, as a special representative of the AU in Western Sahara.

Mr. Mohamed Abdelaiz, in this regard, expressed SADR readiness to fully cooperate with Mr. Chissano, hoping he would be able to complete programme of his visits and contacts, ahead of the Commission's report to be presented to the next summit of the Union, scheduled for January next year. (SPS)

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President of Republic holds talks with AU African heads of state and government

Malabo, June 28, 2014 (SPS) - President of the Republic and Secretary General of the Polisario Front Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz held talks Thursday and Friday in at Sipopo Conference Center in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, with a number of heads of African state and government, who took part at the 23rd ordinary summit of the African Union, which wrapped up yesterday evening.

President Mohamed Abdelaziz, in this respect, met with a number of heads of African states, of which Mr. Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz of Mauritania, Mr. Jacob Zuma of South Africa, King Letsie III of Lesotho, Mr. Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, Mr. Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Mr. Idriss Déby of Chad, in addition to Mr. Abdelmalek Sellal, prime minister of Algeria.

He also met with the vice president of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in addition to other heads of governments and foreign delegations present at the summit.

These talks focused on the best ways to develop bilateral relations and look for cooperation opportunities between the Saharawi Republic (SADR) and the afro-mentioned.

Saharawi president informed his interlocutors about the latest developments on the question of Western Sahara, especially the situation of human rights in occupied Western Sahara.

He also highlighted Morocco's illegal exploitation of Saharawi people's natural resources by the Moroccan occupying state. (SPS

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Ex-president Joaquim Chissano, new AU special envoy for Western Sahara

Malabo, June 28, 2014 (SPS) - The African Union (AU) has appointed Mr. Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique, as a special envoy for Western Sahara, stated the report of AU Peace and Security Council, submitted to the 23rd Assembly of the Union.

The report, approved by the summit of heads of state and government, revealed that Mr. Chissano has already held consultations with the permanent members of the Security Council and UN officials in Madrid, Paris, London, Washington and New York.

He, in the same regard, will hold similar meetings with the Chinese and Russian officials.

AU Envoy aims to look for the best ways for the African Union to support the international efforts aimed at finding a settlement to Western Sahara conflict on the basis of international legitimacy.

The outcome of Chissano's tour will be included in a report to be submitted by the Commission to the 24th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union, scheduled for January 2015. (SPS)

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