Western Sahara News

Algiers - Sofiane SiyoucefAlgerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said that Western Sahara's people should decide for themselves whether to be independent or subject to Morocco's rule. The comment is perceived as an implicit rebuke to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's praise of a Moroccan plan to give the area autonomy but still keep it under its control.  Morocco annexed the mineral-rich territory in 1975 and then fought against the rebel Polisario Front (PF) until a truce in 1991.  UN-supervised talks on a potential referendum on independence have since yielded nothing.  Morocco has offered wide-ranging autonomy, and in Rabat on Sunday, Clinton called the plan “serious, realistic and credible.”  But Bouteflika reiterated his country's backing of the PF's desire for a referendum. He expressed hope UN talks be restarted.  He also insisted that his country was committed to the implementation of UN resolutions on decolonisation, while expressing ho...

Havana , Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) Negotiations with Morocco are being fostered through formal and informal ways, but the Sahrawi people put their wish to self-determination first, Malainine Etkana, ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), stated in this capital. Prior to the celebration of the 36th anniversary of the proclamation of that state on February 27, the diplomat expressed the Sahrawi people's interest in going ahead with a free and democratic referendum to show the popular wish. Etkana recalled that since 1976, the SADR government has had to face Moroccan occupation in most of the territory, because only one third of the country has been liberated. Interviewed by Cuban television, Etkana stated that for 37 years, an important part of the Sahrawi population has lived in refugee camps, while another important group does it on the occupied territories, always in difficult conditions. Since 1991, a year in which the ceasefire was proclaimed under the auspi...

Press Release: United Nations UN Announces Next Round of Talks to Try to Resolve Western Sahara Dispute New York, Feb 24 2012.- The next round of United Nations-backed informal talks aimed at reaching a settlement in the Western Sahara dispute will take place next month, the UN announced today. Delegations from the parties to the dispute – Morocco and the Frente Polisario – and the neighbouring countries of Algeria and Mauritania will gather just outside New York for three days of discussions starting on 11 March. The participants are expected to deepen their discussions on their respective proposals for a settlement to the dispute, and to also further discuss the ideas associated with governance put forward by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest report on the issue, according to a spokesperson for Mr Ban. He added that the meeting is being held at the invitation of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross. During the meeting the parti...

After decades of inhumane treatment under Moroccan rule, the indigenous Saharawi people continue to demand their independence. Numerous demonstrations denouncing occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco since 1975 has resulted in widespread discrimination and police brutality. Last month, several dozen Saharawi activists were injured after a police crackdown outside the office of the ruling Justice and Development Party where protestors gathered to voice outrage over the postponement of a verdict on the continued detention of Saharawi people in the notorious Sale prison. History of the Western Sahara  The Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Despite recognition of the Saharawis’ right to self-determination by the International Court of Justice at end of Spain’s colonial rule, the 1975 Madrid Agreement handed over two thirds of land ...

El mayor campo de minas del mundo El Centro de Cultura será el próximo martes, día 28 de febrero, punto de encuentro para aquellos que quieran conocer más a fondo la realidad del pueblo saharaui. Los 36 años de la proclamación de la RASD (República Árabe Saharaui Democrática) es el tema del que hablarán Juli Raneda, miembro de la Asociación de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui de las Islas Baleares, Mohamed Tleimidi, delegado del Frente Polisario en las islas Baleares y Yago Monserrat Berenguel, director de cine. República Árabe Saharaui Democrática En 1976 España abandona los territorios que formaban la antigua colonia del Sáhara Occidental y el pueblo Saharaui proclama la RASD. Aquí empieza la guerra entre el Frente Polisario y el Reino de Marruecos y el éxodo saharaui hacia la región de Tinduf (el desierto del desierto). 36 años después, más de 200.000 personas, en gran parte mujeres y niños, viven en el exilio, en condiciones precarias y de extrema dureza a la espera de la realizac...

The UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is the only contemporary UN mission that does not monitor human rights. Last year, following pressure from across the world, language on human rights was introduced into the resolution.  This has failed. Torture, false imprisonment and violence continue.  The Security Council has a responsibility to protect the people of Western Sahara and to hold Morocco to account.  Please TAKE ACTION to tell the Security Council to monitor human rights. For organisations: Please contact (in order of priority) • The President of the Security Council – see below for details (and ask that your letter is circulated to all members) • Your own national mission and government • The French mission to the UN For Individuals: • Your MP asking them to raise this with the Minister • The President of the Security Council – see below for details ( and ask that your letter is circulated to all members) Key points • Last year measures on...

In my recent post about J. Peter Pham’s hypocrisy on the Western Sahara, I mention that he is prominently listed as an expert source on the Moroccan American Center for Policy’s website, Morocco on the Move.  I thought it might be illuminating to take a look at the whole list. Here it is : Dr. J. Peter Pham, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center Professor Yonah Alexander, Director of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies’ International Center for Terrorism Studies Leila Hanafi, Staff Attorney and Programs Manager, The World Justice Project Professor I. William Zartman, Professor Emeritus, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University Professor Lahcen Haddad, Morocco Country Representative, Management Systems International Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel (ret.), President, Moroccan American Center Jean R. AbiNader, Executive Director of the Moroccan American Trade and Investment Center Robert M. Ho...

Berlin - The conflict in the Western Sahara region, which Morocco annexed in 1975, has become 'invisible' because of strategic and economic interests, says Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who presented a documentary on the subject at the Berlin Film Festival. Bardem speaks to dpa about how the idea of making a documentary about the almost forgotten conflict came to him after a 2008 visit to refugee camps, home to thousands of people from Western Sahara. Despite a 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and rebel group Polisario Front, the dispute over the territory has not been resolved. Hijos de las Nubes: La Ultima Colonia (Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony) was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. dpa: Once you were there, the human side must have played an important role. Bardem: The first time I went to refugee camps I spent a week in the home of a family, with children and people who give you everything, all they have. And then you go and leave them there. And the faces of ...

By IAN ALLEN  During the Cold War, Berlin was considered one of the world’s paramount intelligence hotspots —a gathering place for spies from Western Europe, the Soviet bloc, America, and beyond. But recent developments in the German capital show that the city’s illustrious espionage heritage is far from over. On Wednesday, German authorities announced the arrest of a 56-year-old man on charges of spying on Western Saharan opposition activists operating on German soil. The man, who has been  identified only as “Mohammed B.”, is reportedly a German-Moroccan dual citizen, and the statement by the German prosecutor’s office hints that he is an accredited intelligence officer.  According to the official press release by the prosecutor, Mohammed B. was arrested for operating as an unregistered agent of the Moroccan intelligence services. His main targets appear to have consisted of activists involved with the POLISARIO Front, the main political vehicle of the Western Sahara...

In January 2012, International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) staff traveled to Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), to assess the state of the news media and examine the prospects for developing a journalistic information network. They have posted a photo gallery which shows the state of media and life in the camps more generally. http://bit.ly/zFoPmJ Source : Pambazuka News, 15/2/2012

Shaheed Elhafed (Refugee camps), Feb 14, 2012 (SPS) - New round of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco will be held in the first half of Marsh at Greentree Estate, Manhasset (New York) under the UN auspices, in the presence of the two neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania, a Saharawi official reveled Sunday. The Personal Envoy of UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, asserted earlier that he would continue his efforts to promote the path of negotiations, underling he called the parties to a new round of informal talks next February at the Greentree Estate in Long Island (New York). In interview with UN media center published last month, Ross stated that the Security Council now “expects the parties themselves to negotiate a political solution with the help of the UN, with the help of the neighboring States, with the help of the international community and to do so instead of reacting to settlement plans others have drawn up.” He expre...

The European Union is about to con-clude a trade agreement opening upfor large EU imports of agricultural products from Morocco.Morocco, however, is an occupa-tion power. And the deal can be used by plantation companies in occupiedWestern Sahara to export fruits andvegetables to EU supermarkets free of tariffs.This report documents the massiveboom of the Moroccan agriculture in-dustry in the territory it brutally andillegally occupies, and documents howthe EU trade with the occupied terri-tory is already taking place.  The Moroccan agriculture industry in occupiedWestern Sahara and the controversial exports to the EU market  Morocco is illegally occupying its neighbouring coun-try, Western Sahara. While the people of Western  Sahara are legitimately struggling for liberty, theterritory is treated by the UN as the last remainingcolonial issue in Africa. The Moroccan occupationis in violation of the Opinion from the InternationalCourt of Justice in The Hague, and in viola...

On the eve of a ninth round of UN-sponsored negotiations, Stefan Simanowitz assesses the prospects for a resolution of the conflict in Western Sahara.  ‘We would prefer settle the situation in Western Sahara by peaceful means,’ Mohamed Abdelaziz, Secretary General of the Polisario Front , told a press conference on Saturday. ‘But if the peace process is not successful, our army is ready.’ He was speaking just a week before the start of the next round of UN- sponsored negotiations, expected to take place in New York on 11-13 February and his sentiments echoed those of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, who recently warned of the growing risks should the negotiations fail. As well as the danger of a renewal of military hostilities after a hiatus of over two decades, Ross also warned of a possible increase in popular unrest and even the ‘possible recruitment of the unemployed Saharawis into terrorist or criminal groups’. He emphasized that...

Here in the West we often lament the decline of church attendance but can you imagine a place where there are no Christians at all? When you look at the stats for Christians in Western Sahara it says it is almost 100% Muslim. In Operation World it estimates there are only ‘a handful of Christians’ at best and this is backed up by similar statistics on the Joshua Project’s website . Western Sahara used to be a Spanish colony and has been a disputed territory since 1975 which Morocco controls 80% of the land. WIN1040 has an informative and helpful briefing with prayer points on the region including the political situation and how it affects the few isolated Christians that live there. 30 Days Prayer Network has a similar briefing and prayer points with an excellent video to watch of what life is like for the Sahrawi people. Pastor Wally, founder of persecuted church charity, Christians in Crisis, who has quite an interesting background , visited Western Sahara in 2010 on a fact...

Is there any limit to the chutzpah of J. Peter Pham ? Recently he was quoted in an Associated Press article titled Senegal President Spends $200K To Lobby US -- about President Abdoulaye Wade’s contracting with a US lobbying group “to research and draft a ‘white paper’ showing that the 85-year-old was legally entitled to seek a third term in office, even though the Senegalese constitution was revised to impose a maximum of two.” Here is what Pham had to say: "It saddens, but doesn't surprise me that it has come to this," said Peter Pham, the Africa director at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. "After more than a decade in office, Abdoulaye Wade is apparently so desperate to cling on to power that he has to hire a foreign law firm to conjure up legal 'facts' that the plain language and intent of the Senegalese constitution and the relevant amendment's legislative history would not otherwise support." What I find so disturbing ab...

The news from Senegal is very concerning. Hundreds of anti-Wade, the aging Senegalese ruler, protesters continue to gather everyday in central Dakar, to show their dissatisfaction over the 86 year old incumbent president's candidacy. Various reliable sources indicate that at least 4 people have died and the protest seems to be spreading in the interior of the country since two protesters were killed by the government security forces in a similar demonstration in Podor, a town located in the northern part of the country. It appears that just as in Arab countries last year, African presidents who would try to cling to power against the wishes of their population, by manipulating the constitution and the judiciary system, may risk the same popular rebellions that toppled Arab dictators. Maybe, Senegal is going to show the way. In principle, people should be gathering in Senegal’s streets and public squares to hear campaign speeches in preparation for the presidential elections that ...

Andalusia (Spain) and Seville, rejoice once again, to receive you for the celebration of the 37th European Coordination Conference of Support to the Sahrawi Saharawi People (EUCOCO).  Celebrating this conference in Spain and especially in Andalusia, only 15 kilometers far away from Morocco, is of greatest importance, as here in Seville in 2001 we already showed, since our media are seen and heard in the cities of northern Morocco and our governments are friends of the king of Morocco and involved in the resolution or no resolution of this conflict.  The province of Seville is twinned with Dakhla since 2001 and since 2010 the City Council is twinned with Tifariti in the liberated territories of Western Sahara.  Every year this event is important to continue to reflect on our coordinated work in order to promote more and appropriate strategies to address us the international community and moreover to the European Union and United Nations, so that these institutions take ...