LET NOT FORGET WESTERN SAHARA AND THE MOROCCAN OCCUPIER

[Ceylal]

You don't cease to amaze me....Is there anything else left, that is really theirs...

 

[Ceylal]

@arab legend, can you dig deep in your pocket and help...
MVI fregate without an owner...

Even his new acquired F16 are not flying and about to be repossessed

 

[Ceylal]

Bucharaya Beyun: no es cierto que Obama haya aceptado la propuesta de Mohamed VI de convertir el Sahara Occidental en Autonomía de Marruecos | Colectivo Saharaui 1975

Bucharaya Beyun: it is not true that Obama has accepted the proposal of Mohamed VI to convert the Western Sahara in Moroccan Autonomy

SB-News -. Polisario leader in Spain, Bucharaya Beyun reflected in the Trapera San Borondón Radio program on the meeting between the President of the United States , Barack Obama , and the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, to speak the problem of Western Sahara and said the monarch has Alawite treaty that the United States withdraw its proposal for MINURSO exert more control over serious human rights in the occupied zone.

Beyun said that what really worries is that MINURSO Morocco to ensure the human rights in the Western Sahara , after which he entered what the mainstream media have published about supporting Obama Plan for Western Sahara Morocco I personally think that is not exactly true. He explained that what the spokesman, the United States affects the position that has been maintaining Hillary Clinton over the years, making it clear that his country supports a solution to Saharawi conflict within the framework of the United Nations, based on the thesis of Roos, making clear that the Moroccan proposal for Western Sahara is an autonomy within Morocco is one of many options which could be good as long as the accept the Sahrawis, something that is not so. "the problem of Morocco is that autonomy is not accepted by the Sahrawi" said Polisario representative in Spain to ensure that the United States has not changed its position that continues to advocate a solution under of the United Nations . "To tell the Moroccan proposal is interesting, does not mean that you are supporting, because to do before they will have to accept the Sahrawis and that will not happen," said Bucharaya Beyun, for whom americamos continue to support the efforts of Nations United and Christopher Roos. leader Polisario in Spain said that Morocco is deeply concerned that Americans have placed great emphasis on meeting the need for them to be respected human rights in the Sahara Western and an end put to military trials.

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[Ceylal]

The Makhzen increases its defence budget to $4+ B...Is it a lign in the sand or just a posturing for internal consumption? The Sahrawi are ready, Is Morocco troops are in shape and mind to contain a Sahrawi onslaught? If politics fail, the AK's will certainly do the talking...Things are turning bleak for the king.

 

[Ceylal]

The picture that will flare up Homo VI's fissures

This Moroccan flag will replace the old one in a couple months..

Morocco intensifies repression before European MEPs vote new EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement Protocol: preliminary list of the victims
Dec 8th, 2013 | By Isabel de Aragón | Category: rights, Natural Resources
El Aaiún, 8 December

Yesterday, 7th December, the Akdeim Izik Platform organized a peaceful demonstration at Smara Avenue in the occupied city of El Aaiún, to express the Saharawi People’s refusal and rejection of the new signed EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement Protocol which will be put to vote for ratification by European Parliament next 10 December.

Moroccan occupying forces besieged the demonstration as the auxiliary forces and different agents of Morocco police forces in plainclothes began the attack on the peaceful Saharawi demonstrators and dispersed the demonstration using batons, stones and intimidation. The forces of occupation even tried to run over some of the peaceful demonstrators.


According to Saharawi sources, as a result of the Moroccan occupying forces violent intervention, dozens of Saharawis fell on the ground injured.

Here is a preliminary list of fallen injured Sahrawi victims and Sahrawi people with wounds:

_SALMA LIMAM

_ALLALI BOUTNGIZA

_SALHA BOUTNGIZA

_MAHFOUDA LEFKIR

_ABD ALAH BOURGAA

_MOHAMMED TALEB LAKHIAR

_MOHAMMED SALEM EL MAHMOUDI

_MOHAMMED HAMMIYA

_MBAYRIK SAH

_RGAYBANO LHWAYJ

_HADHOM MJAYAD

_SIDI NAJEM

_AHMAD AHAIMAD

_DEKALA ZAIDAN

_MALIKA EL MOSSAOUI

_SALLAM EBRA

_OUM LEKHOUT LAAROUSSI

_BABIT KABARA

_BAMBA LAFKIR

_NIHA LAABAYDI

_ LEKHFAOUNI EL WALI

_LAHBIB ELSALHI

_SALMA MAYLAD

_SOUKAINA YAYA

Source: Saharawi CMC-WSHRW

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• Morocco intensifies repression before European MEPs vote new EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement Protocol: preliminary list of the victims
  El Aaiún, 8 December Yesterday, 7th December, the Akdeim Izik Platform organized a peaceful demonstration at Smara Avenue in the occupied city of El Aaiún, to express the Saharawi People’s refusal and rejection of the new signed EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement Protocol which will be put to vote for ratification by European Parliament next 10 D ...
  

Pan African Parliament “THE NEW EU-MOROCCO FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, A VIOLATION OF THE TERRITORIAL RIGHT OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE”
Dec 5th, 2013 | By Isabel de Aragón | Category: rights, Natural Resources
REF: PAP/PRES-EP/368
DATE: 1ST DECEMBER, 2013

Mr Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament,
Brussels, Belgium

Your Excellency,
THE NEW EU-MOROCCO FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (FPA): A VIOLATION OF THE TERRITORIAL RIGHT OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE

On behalf of the Bureau and members of the Pan African Parliament, let me once again thank you for honouring us with your presence during the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Third Parliament of the Pan African Parliament held in May, 2013 and we look forward to further collaboration with the European Parliament as we prepare for the Joint African EU Summit in April, 2014. It is with a sense of urgency that I would like to address to you this letter to draw your attention to a highly serious development relating to the question of Western Sahara.

We have been informed that, the European Parliament is about to vote on the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol, which does not explicitly exclude from its geographical scope the territorial waters of Western Sahara, the last Non-Self-Governing Territory in Africa. As you also are aware, the new protocol was proposed by the EU Commission to replace the second protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco, which was already vetoed by the European Parliament on 14 December 2011. It is well known that the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa on the agenda of the United Nations as a decolonisation issue, is not part of Morocco which continues to occupy illegally large parts of the Territory since 31 October 1975. In its historic advisory opinion on Western Sahara, issued on 16 October 1975, the International Court of Justice very clearly established that there never existed “any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity”. It also endorsed “the decolonisation of Western Sahara” by means of the exercise of “self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory”.

The United Nations, the African Union and all UN Member States have never approved Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara or recognised the legality of its forceful annexation of the Territory. In accordance with General Assembly resolutions 34/37 (1979) and 35/19 (1980), Morocco is an occupying power of Western Sahara, and the UN has never recognised it as administering power of the Territory. As an occupying power, Morocco thus has no right whatsoever to exploit the natural resources of the occupied territories of Western Sahara or to enter into agreements with third parties concerning those resources over which only the Sahrawi people have permanent sovereignty.

The Pan African Parliament has also passed several resolutions and recommendations on the illegality of the Kingdom of Morocco’s continued occupation of the Western Sahara,

In view of the legal status of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, and given the political, legal and ethical implications of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement, the European Union could have simply excluded Western Sahara from the geographical scope of the FPA, just as other governments have done with respect to their trade agreements with Morocco. On 20 July 2004, the Trade Representative of the US Government stated in relation to the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that “the United States and many other countries do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara” and that “The FTA will cover trade and investment in the territory of Morocco as recognised internationally, and will not include Western Sahara”.

The new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco, which does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara, clearly flies in the face of the clear and strong positions exhibited by some EU Member States. It also disregards the majority opinion expressed by the European Parliament and its Legal Service, which, in July 2009, established that EU-flagged vessels were in effect fishing in the waters adjacent to Western Sahara under the EU-Morocco FPA. The Legal Service also underlined that the people of Western Sahara had never been consulted nor received any benefits from the exploitation of their own fisheries resources. It further stressed that, if the rights of the Sahrawi people under international law would not be fully respected under the FPA, then the agreement should be suspended or be applied in such a way that EU-flagged vessels would be excluded from the exploitation of the waters of Western Sahara.

This express indifference to the interests and wishes of the Sahrawi people is clearly in violation of the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara set out in the legal opinion submitted to the Security Council on 29 January 2002 by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, the Legal Counsel, Ambassador Hans Corell. In his legal opinion, Mr Corell stressed that “if further exploration and exploitation activities were to proceed in disregard of the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the principles of international law applicable to mineral resource activities in Non-Self-Governing Territories”. In relation to the legality under international law of the EU-Morocco FPA, Mr Corell also said, on 4 December 2008, that “it was obvious that an agreement of this kind that does not make a distinction between the waters adjacent to Western Sahara and the waters adjacent to the territory of Morocco would violate international law.”
Under these circumstances, approving this new Fisheries Protocol with Morocco will be tantamount to rewarding Morocco for its unabated violation of the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people, which have been documented by major international and African human rights organisations. It would further undermine the efforts deployed by the United Nations and the African Union to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict based on the exercise of the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. It may also give a sign of legitimisation to the Moroccan occupation of the Territory, thus contributing to prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.

Against the above background, I urge Your Excellency not to approve this new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol for the obvious negative legal, political and ethical implication on the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Western Sahara people.

Furthermore, I urge Your Excellency to bring this issue to the attention of Members of your Parliament for their consideration.

Please accept, Mr President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

H.E Hon Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi, MP
President of the Pan-African Parliament



Letter

Pan African Parliament “THE NEW EU-MOROCCO FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, A VIOLATION OF THE TERRITORIAL RIGHT OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE”

Dec 5th, 2013 | By Isabel de Aragón | Category: rights, Natural Resources
​

REF: PAP/PRES-EP/368​

DATE: 1ST DECEMBER, 2013
Mr Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament,
Brussels, Belgium
Your Excellency,
THE NEW EU-MOROCCO FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (FPA): A VIOLATION OF THE TERRITORIAL RIGHT OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE
On behalf of the Bureau and members of the Pan African Parliament, let me once again thank you for honouring us with your presence during the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Third Parliament of the Pan African Parliament held in May, 2013 and we look forward to further collaboration with the European Parliament as we prepare for the Joint African EU Summit in April, 2014. It is with a sense of urgency that I would like to address to you this letter to draw your attention to a highly serious development relating to the question of Western Sahara.
We have been informed that, the European Parliament is about to vote on the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol, which does not explicitly exclude from its geographical scope the territorial waters of Western Sahara, the last Non-Self-Governing Territory in Africa. As you also are aware, the new protocol was proposed by the EU Commission to replace the second protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco, which was already vetoed by the European Parliament on 14 December 2011. It is well known that the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa on the agenda of the United Nations as a decolonisation issue, is not part of Morocco which continues to occupy illegally large parts of the Territory since 31 October 1975. In its historic advisory opinion on Western Sahara, issued on 16 October 1975, the International Court of Justice very clearly established that there never existed “any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity”. It also endorsed “the decolonisation of Western Sahara” by means of the exercise of “self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory”.
The United Nations, the African Union and all UN Member States have never approved Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara or recognised the legality of its forceful annexation of the Territory. In accordance with General Assembly resolutions 34/37 (1979) and 35/19 (1980), Morocco is an occupying power of Western Sahara, and the UN has never recognised it as administering power of the Territory. As an occupying power, Morocco thus has no right whatsoever to exploit the natural resources of the occupied territories of Western Sahara or to enter into agreements with third parties concerning those resources over which only the Sahrawi people have permanent sovereignty.
The Pan African Parliament has also passed several resolutions and recommendations on the illegality of the Kingdom of Morocco’s continued occupation of the Western Sahara,
In view of the legal status of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, and given the political, legal and ethical implications of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement, the European Union could have simply excluded Western Sahara from the geographical scope of the FPA, just as other governments have done with respect to their trade agreements with Morocco. On 20 July 2004, the Trade Representative of the US Government stated in relation to the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that “the United States and many other countries do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara” and that “The FTA will cover trade and investment in the territory of Morocco as recognised internationally, and will not include Western Sahara”.
The new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco, which does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara, clearly flies in the face of the clear and strong positions exhibited by some EU Member States. It also disregards the majority opinion expressed by the European Parliament and its Legal Service, which, in July 2009, established that EU-flagged vessels were in effect fishing in the waters adjacent to Western Sahara under the EU-Morocco FPA. The Legal Service also underlined that the people of Western Sahara had never been consulted nor received any benefits from the exploitation of their own fisheries resources. It further stressed that, if the rights of the Sahrawi people under international law would not be fully respected under the FPA, then the agreement should be suspended or be applied in such a way that EU-flagged vessels would be excluded from the exploitation of the waters of Western Sahara.
This express indifference to the interests and wishes of the Sahrawi people is clearly in violation of the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara set out in the legal opinion submitted to the Security Council on 29 January 2002 by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, the Legal Counsel, Ambassador Hans Corell. In his legal opinion, Mr Corell stressed that “if further exploration and exploitation activities were to proceed in disregard of the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the principles of international law applicable to mineral resource activities in Non-Self-Governing Territories”. In relation to the legality under international law of the EU-Morocco FPA, Mr Corell also said, on 4 December 2008, that “it was obvious that an agreement of this kind that does not make a distinction between the waters adjacent to Western Sahara and the waters adjacent to the territory of Morocco would violate international law.”
Under these circumstances, approving this new Fisheries Protocol with Morocco will be tantamount to rewarding Morocco for its unabated violation of the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people, which have been documented by major international and African human rights organisations. It would further undermine the efforts deployed by the United Nations and the African Union to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict based on the exercise of the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. It may also give a sign of legitimisation to the Moroccan occupation of the Territory, thus contributing to prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.
Against the above background, I urge Your Excellency not to approve this new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol for the obvious negative legal, political and ethical implication on the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Western Sahara people.
Furthermore, I urge Your Excellency to bring this issue to the attention of Members of your Parliament for their consideration.
Please accept, Mr President, the assurances of my highest consideration.
H.E Hon Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi, MP
President of the Pan-African Parliament

​

 

[Ceylal]

Holland cut the umbilical cord with his majesty...All the contract signed with Sarkozy were torn apart..Paris demanded cash in hand...

 

[al-Hasani]

In addition to not give strong arguments in your words and flee the answers when it deals with crimes of the Algerian military junta, a little example



You're like a rabid dog leaking forward , you say shit from beginning to end of your post, it is a fact , I suppose that you have a big complex this is really sad, every person who read you can notice this .

Oh yeah homosexual . Wait a minute , I search extensively on the internet and I did not find the picture that show bouteflika family , strange , very strange ...

Maybe a pedophile

Oh boutef the widower his man is dead

So until proven , it is either a pedophile or a homosexual .

Good reply, bro. No offense @Ceylal but he got you there.

 

[Ceylal]

Elhassani, you do know nothing about algeria, agreeing on the massacres like our valeureux FAR soldier, that has never seen a day of his life in the army, you are insulting me and our army ...unstead waisting your time on a 23 year old story, why, with all the money you spend on those monkey djihadist, you can give them 600m to get their fremm...from Holland who told the king money talk and bulshiet walk

Western Sahara: Our Long Road To Freedom | Ceasefire Magazine

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Photo Essay | Western Sahara: Our Long Road To Freedom
Prompted by her recent visit to her homeland, Agaila Abba presents a highly personal portrait of the historical origins of the Western Sahara question and the ongoing Sahrawi refugee problem. With exclusive photography by Joe Huddleston.
NEW IN CEASEFIRE - Posted on Friday, December 13, 2013 15:50 - 0 Comments


By Agaila Abba and Joe Huddleston

There’s a specific morning that stands out to me: I was seven years old, and I asked two simple questions that changed my life. While the elders and younger family members surrounded my grandfather in his simple tent, they started to talk of a past event that took place in a country called Western Sahara. It piqued my curiosity; I asked my grandfather where this ‘Western Sahara’ was and what has happened there.

My grandfather said “Western Sahara is our country, now occupied by Morocco. It is the country your father died for, and you, my dear, like all of us, are Saharawi.” My grandfather’s words not only captivated me, they gave me an identity, an identity that, as a child, I didn’t understand. However, growing older, it became a discovery as well as a painful living reality.

Time passed, and I became busy with schooling. In 2007, after six years of being apart from my family, I travelled from Hawaii back to the refugee camps in Algeria where my family lives. I had two reasons for my visit; to see my family, which I missed terribly, and, at the age of 24, I was determined to know everything about my family’s experience in the war between Western Sahara and Morocco that took place in 1975.

I needed to know and make sense of my identity as a Saharawi. My visit was marked by some staggering discoveries.

Once again, I was surrounded by the elders and younger family members at my grandfather’s place. It was my grandmother who did the talking, with her soft and compassionate voice. She talked of the day of the ‘Green March’ in 1975, when Morocco occupied Western Sahara. My grandmother fled, taking all of her children along with necessities such as water and blankets. Luckily, my grandmother’s cousin saw them running and stopped his car to come to their aid.

Travelling on the long road towards Algeria, my grandmother saw people being killed, women being raped, and “other horrible things”, as she would phrase it in our dialect (called Hassaniya). While my grandmother was running for her life, my grandfather was traveling to a different city. (He ended up fighting but was able to find my grandmother later on.)

At night, my grandmother and her people took rest somewhere between Western Sahara and Algeria. That overnight stay turned into days which became weeks. They later were joined by thousands of other families. One morning, my grandmother and her children prepared to resume their escape journey. Moroccan airplanes began bombing, and there was death all around.

My grandmother and her children’s lives were saved by hiding behind a large bush. Earlier, during the ‘Green March’ itself my own mother had been separated from my grandmother as she was helping an aunt who was blind. It was during this bombing that they miraculously found each other again. Once reunited, they continued their escape to Algeria, ending up in the plains desert of Tindouf, in southern Algeria.

In the emptiness of the desert, my grandmother tried to begin a new life away from the war. With no home, no money, no food or any basic necessities, it was a struggle for survival for her and her children. As she described it, “The Saharawi who fled to Tindouf became a team, helping each other.” The war wasn’t over, so the women started building the new refugee camps, while the men went to fight against Morocco.

After reuniting with my grandmother, my grandfather had to leave his family again to join the fight. My grandmother, like thousands of Saharawi women, was left alone trying to survive, caring for the injured as well as for other families that came along later, and also burying the dead.

As the war continued, a group of doctors came to the camps to care for the sick. They treated some of the children with injections. The injections started turning my younger aunt’s body black. When my mother and grandmother realised this, they hid her in a box the next time the doctors showed up to prevent any further injections. In the end, my aunt thankfully survived, but the injections killed my twin uncles.

My grandmother had to witness her sons die and be buried. Later on, it was revealed that these doctors were sent by Morocco to target Saharawi children that had survived the attack. The misery of war and the poisonings continued until 1991 when A UN brokered ceasefire took place. Even though the fighting stopped, my family had to continue their struggle in the refugee camps.

 

[Mahmoud_EGY]

Ceylal i dont know who is right and who is wrong all i know is the middle east is in bad shape look around you libya syria yeman sudan is now 2 countries maybe the problem is not next to us it is the super powers watching the conflict and splitting our countries just like before the time of great britan and france if i were you i would think more about unifcation and joint defence in north africa

 

[Ceylal]

Ceylal i dont know who is right and who is wrong all i know is the middle east is in bad shape look around you libya syria yeman sudan is now 2 countries maybe the problem is not next to us it is the super powers watching the conflict and splitting our countries just like before the time of great britan and france if i were you i would think more about unifcation and joint defence in north africa

Mahmoud, the west sahara was never moroccan, it is not ours either and we have no claim, it is Sahrawi..The reason they didn't start another war against the occupier is because that lice that we have as president, who forbid it during his tenure. Morocco took a lot of years to recognize Mauretania and H2 laid claim on it as well as Senegal, they claim half of Algeria...That resemble in many way Israel!
Algerian love Moroccans and vice versa. We created the the arab union of the maghreb, comprising Lybia, Tunisia,Algeria, Morocco and Mauretania, and guess who killed it...Morocco...You can unify with a country that consider itself as europeen and the will be invited to join by the EU...Turkey who is big economy with part of her territory in EUROPE WAS NEVER ACCEPTED even as a member of Nato. The only thing the king did is turn Morocco into Thailand for the EU smicars, he instituted pederasty and protistution. Now evry rapist fleeing the law of their country find asylum in the kingdom...Morocco was never consider by us as a threat and to make it clear to guard Tindouf airspace we have two trainer L59 to mock them.

 

[Ceylal]

There was a heavy pause as my grandmother’s story ended. I broke the silence by asking the question that had been burning inside me. “Grandmother, what happened to my father?” She looked at me, eyes brimming with tears. “Your father, Cherifia (My nickname, given to me by my grandmother, meaning the ‘noble one’) was fighting in the darkness of the night with his unit, then they all heard gunshots. His unit ran and he was captured by the Moroccan army and murdered in cold blood.”

As she finished telling the story, she made this remark: “Morocco not only took our land, killed our men and raped our women, but also left many Saharawi children like you orphaned.” The discussion ended with my entire family sobbing, and only then did I fully understand the pain that I had always seen in their eyes. Thirty six years on, my grandmother and the rest of my family still remain in the refugee camps, waiting for a solution that will bring to an end the long standing territorial dispute between Western Sahara and Morocco.

Sitting on the dunes (the best thing about the refugee camps,) trying to come to terms with my family’s story. I looked over the thousands of mud houses and tents. I thought of my younger brother, whom I had not seen for six long years ever since he went to Cuba to train as a medical doctor, which had always been his dream.

I thought about his pain, having lived so long without our father and wondering how he was going to feel when he learned of how our father had died during the war. I am sure his anguish will not be any less than mine. My mind wondered about my mother and her pain, not just in losing her twin brothers, but her husband as well, the father of her children, and the pain that she felt watching her children grow up without him, then watching them leave and not seeing them for years.

I also thought of the pain my grandmother had to go through, losing not only her home but her children, and the continued hardship of living in the refugee camps. I am not the only Saharawi to leave my family to pursue an education abroad. Hundreds of Saharawi youth leave and continue to leave, often going for years without being able to see their families. We are taught at a young age that education is our strongest weapon; that our greatest hope is to become educated and help our people in their struggle for self-determination, and rebuilding our country once it is free.

The greatest dream, shared by all Saharawi, is to achieve the highest education and equip ourselves so we can become diplomats, journalists, doctors, and so much more. A new generation that can help Western Sahara regain its freedom. Our future as a nation is uncertain, but we continue our struggle as a nation in exile. Our youth studying abroad continue to define what it means to be Saharawi, ensuring the world knows of our struggle.

I was once asked: what does it mean to be Saharawi? I wish the answer were simple. It is a question I’ve been trying to define all of my life. For me, being a Saharawi means that you belong to a country, called Western Sahara, that you have never seen, born in a country called Algeria that is not yours but that you love as your own, and growing up in two other countries, the US and Spain, which I also attempted to make my own.

One does this by adopting the languages and cultures to find a place to belong, by sacrificing everything one has ever known. By being a Saharawi, one lives with the pain of the displacement and abuse inflicted on your people. The confusion of belonging is undefinable for a Saharawi because one fits in all cultures and countries, yet belonging to none.

Le président de la RASD a dénoncé hier les violations des droits de l’homme
“Les charniers révèlent la pratique du génocide par l’occupant marocain”
Par : Hafida Ameyar
“La résistance des peuples contre le colonialisme, l’occupation et l’oppression a été et restera un droit légitime et un devoir sacré.” C’est ce qu’a déclaré hier, à l’hôtel El-Aurassi à Alger, le président de la République sahraouie (Rasd), Mohamed Abdelaziz, à l’ouverture de la IVe Conférence internationale consacrée au “droit des peuples à la résistance : le cas du peuple sahraoui”. Pour le chef de l’État sahraoui, la volonté de son peuple “est inébranlable et ne peut être vaincue”, car il s’agit avant tout d’un “choix populaire né de la conviction des Sahraouis, inéluctablement attachés à la création de leur État indépendant, la Rasd, sur l’ensemble de leur territoire national”. D’ailleurs, a-t-il poursuivi, l’oppression et la torture “poursuivies par l’État colonial marocain n’ont pas réussi à briser la résistance sahraouie”.
Plus encore, les tentatives et manœuvres marocaines butent et continueront à buter sur “le rejet catégorique des Sahraouis de l’occupation”. Le président de la Rasd a également abordé la question des violations des droits de l’Homme, rappelant que celles-ci ont débuté avec l’invasion de l’ancienne colonie espagnole et qu’elles sont bien connues, à travers les stigmates laissés sur les corps des Sahraouis, mais aussi grâce aux “centaines de rapports des organisations des droits de l’Homme, des institutions gouvernementales et autres organisations internationales”.
Selon lui, les charniers de Sahraouis assassinés par les forces marocaines, qui ont été découverts récemment, révèlent également “la pratique du génocide par l’occupant (et) confirme aussi le caractère mensonger de sa propagande à ce sujet”. “Ces violations (…), vécues au quotidien dans les territoires occupés du Sahara Occidental et au sud du Maroc, n’ont pas épargné les citoyens européens, dont des membres du Parlement européen”, a précisé plus loin le président Abdelaziz. Aussi, ce dernier a du mal à comprendre l’attitude de cette institution qui vient de donner son aval à “un accord de pêche avec l’État qui occupe militairement et illégalement un pays en instance de décolonisation”. En agissant de la sorte, le PE “participe, à notre regret, au vol et au pillage des richesses d’un peuple sans défense”, a-t-il expliqué, avant d’appeler les parlementaires européens, en leur qualité de représentants des peuples européens, à “réexaminer une telle décision injuste” qui, selon lui, transgresse le droit international, ainsi que “les idéaux, les principes et les valeurs qui sont les fondements mêmes (de) l’UE”. Le président de la Rasd a, par ailleurs, interpellé l’ancienne “puissance administrante”, en lui rappelant qu’elle reste encore “légalement redevable” au peuple sahraoui à son droit à l’autodétermination. L’Espagne, dira-t-il à ce propos, doit jouer “un rôle constructif compatible avec cette responsabilité” et se dessaisir, par conséquent, du rôle actuel qui, à travers l’encouragement de l’accord de pêche, “contribue à la prolongation du conflit, aux souffrances du peuple sahraoui et à la privation de la région de la stabilité et du développement”.
L’intervenant tiendra aussi à alerter sur la situation prévalant dans la région, une situation confrontée à “un danger réel imminent, en raison de la politique expansionniste coloniale de l’État du Maroc”. Un État qui, outre la construction d’un mur qui divise le Sahara Occidental et son peuple en deux, sa politique qui “sème la désolation” et son déploiement dans la production du cannabis, “ne reconnaît pas les frontières internationales”. Pis encore, le Maroc “trace des cartes et des limites élastiques en dehors de la loi” et contribue, avec la livraison de ses narcotiques, “à la formation, l’encouragement et le financement du crime organisé et (celui) des groupes terroristes dans la région”.

 

[Ceylal]

SUBJECT: ALGERIAN AMBASSADOR BELKHEIR'S VIEWS ON WESTERN
SAHARA, RELATIONS WITH MOROCCO

REF: A. 04 RABAT 2542

¶B. SECDEF 151336Z FEB 06

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador hosted Algerian Ambassador Larbi
Belkheir for an informal tea and conversation on the Western
Sahara and Morocco-Algeria relations the afternoon of
February 16. Belkheir had just returned from Algiers the
previous day. Present were Algerian DCM Ginad Boumedienne,
NEA/MAG Director William Jordan, DCM, and Polcouns. Belkheir
reiterated Algeria's long-standing position on the Western
Sahara conflict, stressing that a solution required Morocco
and the Polisario to negotiate directly. He was skeptical
that a Moroccan autonomy plan could satisfy the Polisario's
demand for self-determination and thus serve as a basis for
negotiations. Withdrawing MINURSO would be a mistake,
Belkheir said, as it would be the combatants face-to-face
with no buffer between them. Belkheir noted that he had met
with King Mohammed "fifteen days ago," and the two reaffirmed
that Morocco and Algeria should try to make progress in their
bilateral relations while putting the Western Sahara conflict
to the side. Belkheir stressed that his role as Ambassador
was to make progress in the bilateral relationship, not to
focus on the Western Sahara issue. Algeria was fully
committed to improving the bilateral relationship, and things
could proceed better if there were less clamor and "more
calm." Belkheir defended Algerian weapons purchases,
stressing they were strictly for self-defense "even though
Algeria has no enemies." End Summary.

¶2. (C) Following up a lunch invitation last November (Ref
A), thus far not reciprocated, Ambassador invited Algerian
Ambassador Belkheir to Villa America the afternoon of
February 16 for an informal dialogue on the Western Sahara
and Morocco-Algeria relations, in honor of the visit of
NEA/MAG Director William Jordan. Belkheir had just returned
from Algiers the previous day. Opening the one-hour
conversation, Ambassador noted that King Mohammed had
remarked to SecDef Rumsfeld during their February 13 meeting
in Ifrane, Morocco (Ref B) that he had met recently with
Belkheir, and had told Rumsfeld that Belkheir's appointment
as Ambassador to Morocco was a positive sign. (Comment:
Ambassador did not relay the full exchange between the King
and SecDef Rumsfeld on this subject; i.e., that the SecDef
said Belkheir's appointment must be a good sign in that
Bouteflika was sending such an important and trusted advisor
to Morocco, to which the King responded: sometimes you must
be wary when things appear to be too good. End Comment).
Belkheir said he and the King had had a good meeting, and
restated their mutual commitment to improving relations
between Morocco and Algeria, and not allowing the Western
Sahara issue to serve as an impediment.

¶3. (C) Jordan noted that the US was awaiting the Moroccan
autonomy plan and was urging the Moroccans to expand their
thinking on autonomy and make it real and credible to the
Sahrawi people. The US anticipated that a credible autonomy
plan could serve as the basis for negotiations between the
parties, which would include a role for Algeria in addition
to the Polisario. The US had publicly called for Morocco to
negotiate with the Polisario. Jordan noted that his visit
would continue to Algiers and Tindouf, where he anticipated
meeting with the Polisario leadership. He would urge the
Polisario, in turn, to give serious consideration to
Morocco's autonomy plan and to agree to contacts and to start
negotiations without preconditions.

¶4. (C) Belkheir expressed skepticism that Morocco's autonomy
plan would provide sufficient scope for Sahrawi
self-determination, and was thus unsure it would prove
attractive enough to bring the Polisario to the negotiating
table. Belkheir said the Baker Plan was an intelligent plan.
It was too bad that another American had not replaced Baker.
Nevertheless, Algeria would support a solution agreed to by
Morocco and the Polisario. Algeria had a long-standing and
well-known position on the Western Sahara; this was an issue
of decolonization, and Algeria could not abandon its
commitment to self-determination for the Sahrawis. In the
end, a solution could be reached; all sides wanted a solution
for the good of the Maghreb, and a just solution could be

found creating neither victor nor vanquished.

¶5. (C) In response to questions concerning his reading of
the Polisario, Belkheir emphasized that he was not in Morocco
to focus on the Western Sahara issue. His mandate was to
focus on the bilateral relationship between Morocco and
Algeria. He had been well-received in Morocco since his
arrival in late 2005, but it was time for relations between
the two countries to move forward in a more concrete way.
Algeria was committed to a better relationship, and had
always worked toward that end. There was tremendous scope
for an improved relationship. "We can go a long way with
Morocco," he said. He reiterated that the Western Sahara
issue would not be a casus belli between the two countries.
In response to Jordan's question about the status of efforts
to reopen the Morocco/Algeria border, Belkheir reiterated the
long-standing Algerian position that the two sides still
needed to resolve technical issues. Belkheir indicated there
was no point in opening the border now only to close it again
in a few years; there had to be assurances the border issues
would be resolved before re-opening. (Comment: this is
perhaps a good example of the stubbornness that both sides
have exhibited with regard to bilateral relations. Despite
the advantages to both sides of re-opening the border, as
seen from Rabat it appears the GOA has decided to hang on to
this "card" for later. End comment). Jordan lamented that
the situation had apparently not changed in well over a year
and noted that progress in this area would be the most
tangible sign of a meaningful bilateral rapprochement.

MINURSO
-------

¶6. (C) DCM asked Belkheir how the Algerians saw MINURSO's
role at this point. Belkheir said withdrawing MINURSO could
be destabilizing. The removal of a buffer between Moroccan
and Polisario forces could be dangerous. DCM noted that the
Polisario could not survive without tacit Algerian support,
as it was based on Algerian territory. Belkheir said the GOA
of course discouraged any resort to violence, but the
Polisario was not limited to Algerian territory. Polisario
forces extended most of the way to the berm, i.e., in those
areas of the Western Sahara not under Moroccan control.

Arms Sales
----------

¶7. (C) DCM queried Belkheir on Algerian motives for recent
weapons purchases. Belkheir said any weapons purchases were
strictly for self-defense. He sought to put the acquisition
of new aircraft in the context of a technical upgrade from
existing and increasingly obsolete equipment. Algeria never
questioned Morocco on its weapons purchases or military
agreements. Morocco was a sovereign state and was entitled
to do what it wished to guarantee its own security. Algeria
operated on the same basis. DCM wondered who Algeria's
enemies were. Belkheir said in fact Algeria did not have any
enemies. In a slightly awkward historical allusion, Belkheir
recalled the start of Algeria's arms relationship with Russia
in the post-independence era. At that time, only the USSR
and its eastern bloc allies were willing to provide Algeria
weapons in response to Morocco's occupation of Tindouf as
part of a border dispute.
VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0316/01 0541741
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 231741Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2879
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 3736
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 5352
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 2976
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 4002
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 8623
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 1278
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0450
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000316

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, IO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2010
TAGS: KPKO MO PBTS PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN AMBASSADOR BELKHEIR'S VIEWS ON WESTERN
SAHARA, RELATIONS WITH MOROCCO

REF: A. 04 RABAT 2542

¶B. SECDEF 151336Z FEB 06

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador hosted Algerian Ambassador Larbi
Belkheir for an informal tea and conversation on the Western
Sahara and Morocco-Algeria relations the afternoon of
February 16. Belkheir had just returned from Algiers the
previous day. Present were Algerian DCM Ginad Boumedienne,
NEA/MAG Director William Jordan, DCM, and Polcouns. Belkheir
reiterated Algeria's long-standing position on the Western
Sahara conflict, stressing that a solution required Morocco
and the Polisario to negotiate directly. He was skeptical
that a Moroccan autonomy plan could satisfy the Polisario's
demand for self-determination and thus serve as a basis for
negotiations. Withdrawing MINURSO would be a mistake,
Belkheir said, as it would be the combatants face-to-face
with no buffer between them. Belkheir noted that he had met
with King Mohammed "fifteen days ago," and the two reaffirmed
that Morocco and Algeria should try to make progress in their
bilateral relations while putting the Western Sahara conflict
to the side. Belkheir stressed that his role as Ambassador
was to make progress in the bilateral relationship, not to
focus on the Western Sahara issue. Algeria was fully
committed to improving the bilateral relationship, and things
could proceed better if there were less clamor and "more
calm." Belkheir defended Algerian weapons purchases,
stressing they were strictly for self-defense "even though
Algeria has no enemies." End Summary.

¶2. (C) Following up a lunch invitation last November (Ref
A), thus far not reciprocated, Ambassador invited Algerian
Ambassador Belkheir to Villa America the afternoon of
February 16 for an informal dialogue on the Western Sahara
and Morocco-Algeria relations, in honor of the visit of
NEA/MAG Director William Jordan. Belkheir had just returned
from Algiers the previous day. Opening the one-hour
conversation, Ambassador noted that King Mohammed had
remarked to SecDef Rumsfeld during their February 13 meeting
in Ifrane, Morocco (Ref B) that he had met recently with
Belkheir, and had told Rumsfeld that Belkheir's appointment
as Ambassador to Morocco was a positive sign. (Comment:
Ambassador did not relay the full exchange between the King
and SecDef Rumsfeld on this subject; i.e., that the SecDef
said Belkheir's appointment must be a good sign in that
Bouteflika was sending such an important and trusted advisor
to Morocco, to which the King responded: sometimes you must
be wary when things appear to be too good. End Comment).
Belkheir said he and the King had had a good meeting, and
restated their mutual commitment to improving relations
between Morocco and Algeria, and not allowing the Western
Sahara issue to serve as an impediment.

¶3. (C) Jordan noted that the US was awaiting the Moroccan
autonomy plan and was urging the Moroccans to expand their
thinking on autonomy and make it real and credible to the
Sahrawi people. The US anticipated that a credible autonomy
plan could serve as the basis for negotiations between the
parties, which would include a role for Algeria in addition
to the Polisario. The US had publicly called for Morocco to
negotiate with the Polisario. Jordan noted that his visit
would continue to Algiers and Tindouf, where he anticipated
meeting with the Polisario leadership. He would urge the
Polisario, in turn, to give serious consideration to
Morocco's autonomy plan and to agree to contacts and to start
negotiations without preconditions.

¶4. (C) Belkheir expressed skepticism that Morocco's autonomy
plan would provide sufficient scope for Sahrawi
self-determination, and was thus unsure it would prove
attractive enough to bring the Polisario to the negotiating
table. Belkheir said the Baker Plan was an intelligent plan.
It was too bad that another American had not replaced Baker.
Nevertheless, Algeria would support a solution agreed to by
Morocco and the Polisario. Algeria had a long-standing and
well-known position on the Western Sahara; this was an issue
of decolonization, and Algeria could not abandon its
commitment to self-determination for the Sahrawis. In the
end, a solution could be reached; all sides wanted a solution
for the good of the Maghreb, and a just solution could be

found creating neither victor nor vanquished.

¶5. (C) In response to questions concerning his reading of
the Polisario, Belkheir emphasized that he was not in Morocco
to focus on the Western Sahara issue. His mandate was to
focus on the bilateral relationship between Morocco and
Algeria. He had been well-received in Morocco since his
arrival in late 2005, but it was time for relations between
the two countries to move forward in a more concrete way.
Algeria was committed to a better relationship, and had
always worked toward that end. There was tremendous scope
for an improved relationship. "We can go a long way with
Morocco," he said. He reiterated that the Western Sahara
issue would not be a casus belli between the two countries.
In response to Jordan's question about the status of efforts
to reopen the Morocco/Algeria border, Belkheir reiterated the
long-standing Algerian position that the two sides still
needed to resolve technical issues. Belkheir indicated there
was no point in opening the border now only to close it again
in a few years; there had to be assurances the border issues
would be resolved before re-opening. (Comment: this is
perhaps a good example of the stubbornness that both sides
have exhibited with regard to bilateral relations. Despite
the advantages to both sides of re-opening the border, as
seen from Rabat it appears the GOA has decided to hang on to
this "card" for later. End comment). Jordan lamented that
the situation had apparently not changed in well over a year
and noted that progress in this area would be the most
tangible sign of a meaningful bilateral rapprochement.

MINURSO
-------

¶6. (C) DCM asked Belkheir how the Algerians saw MINURSO's
role at this point. Belkheir said withdrawing MINURSO could
be destabilizing. The removal of a buffer between Moroccan
and Polisario forces could be dangerous. DCM noted that the
Polisario could not survive without tacit Algerian support,
as it was based on Algerian territory. Belkheir said the GOA
of course discouraged any resort to violence, but the
Polisario was not limited to Algerian territory. Polisario
forces extended most of the way to the berm, i.e., in those
areas of the Western Sahara not under Moroccan control.

Arms Sales
----------

¶7. (C) DCM queried Belkheir on Algerian motives for recent
weapons purchases. Belkheir said any weapons purchases were
strictly for self-defense. He sought to put the acquisition
of new aircraft in the context of a technical upgrade from
existing and increasingly obsolete equipment. Algeria never
questioned Morocco on its weapons purchases or military
agreements. Morocco was a sovereign state and was entitled
to do what it wished to guarantee its own security. Algeria
operated on the same basis. DCM wondered who Algeria's
enemies were. Belkheir said in fact Algeria did not have any
enemies. In a slightly awkward historical allusion, Belkheir
recalled the start of Algeria's arms relationship with Russia
in the post-independence era. At that time, only the USSR
and its eastern bloc allies were willing to provide Algeria
weapons in response to Morocco's occupation of Tindouf as
part of a border dispute.

¶8. (U) NEA/MAG Jordan cleared this message.




******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************

 

[Ceylal]

 

[Ceylal]

The Sahrawi female that gives the fissures to his majesty

fleeing the the Moroccan aviation

img]http://www.bloncourt.net/pictures/polisario/images/image/polisario_18.JPG[/img]

 

[Ceylal]