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original french
28.04.00
Morocco - press
The Moroccan Ministry of Communication has constituted "a commission
of coordination on developments of the question of the Moroccan
Sahara", composed of journalists and members of the government, with
the support of the National Union of Moroccan Press (SNPM). This body
will be "a means for preventing misinformation and keeping
information on track". It should help Moroccan journalists "not lose
their way in the quagmire in quarters trying to sow ill-feeling", the
Moroccan daily Al-Ittihad
al-Ichtiraki (USFP) wrote,
adding that this commission can not in any way be interpreted as an
intrusion into the affairs of journalists...
28-29.04.00
Austria
At the invitation of the Austrian Socialist Party, a Saharawi
delegation led by Mohamed Sidati, Minister Counsellor of the
Presidency, attended the congress of the SPÖ. Members of the
congress affirmed their support for the rights of the Saharawi people
to self-determination and freedom.
01.05.00
France
The deputy secretary general of the French Association of the Friends
of SADR, expressed the view, in an open letter, that it is
"inadmissible that France, cradle of human rights, should be
orchestrating in the Security Council a policy which makes a mockery
of international law". For Elisabeth Muller, "the affirmation of
human rights in Morocco must be subject to the respect of commitments
which Morocco has taken before the International Community".
01.05.00
Referendum
The UN Secretary General has invited Morocco and the Polisario Front,
as well as the observer countries, Algeria and Mauritania, to meet
his personal envoy, James Baker in London, in order "to explore ways
and means to achieve an early and durable and agreed resolution of
the dispute in Western Sahara".
This new round of negotiations will start on Sunday 14 May and could
last several days.
27.04.-11.05.00
27th Session of the African Commission of Human Rights and Rights of
Peoples, CADHP
Several delegates intervened on the subject of repression in the
occupied zones of Western Sahara. Abba Salek, secretary general of
the Union of Saharawi Jurists, presented a report on the exceptional
tribunals, disappearances, manhunts against Saharawis in the occupied
territories. Ahmed Sid Ali, judicial counsellor of SADR, presented a
resolution which calls for the African community to support for the
holding of a referendum "within the given timetable" and to "protect
the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Saharawi people". The
CADHP decided to send, during the current semester, a mission to the
liberated territories of SADR. (SPS)
02.05.00
Referendum
The Polisario Front representative in Spain, Brahim Ghali, in an
article published by the Madrid daily, "El Mundo", called upon the
international community to put "serious pressure" on Morocco in order
to bring it to respect the timetable set for the holding of the
referendum. He emphasised that "if in the future the Saharawi
government decides to defend again its legitimate rights by armed
struggle, that it has not been able to achieve through the ballot box
because of the obstacles imposed by Morocco with the connivance of
certain European governments, who would then be able to accuse it of
violating the cease-fire? Who will really be responsible for the
resumption of the war?" (APS)
03.05.00
Referendum
Brahim Ghali, in a communiqué, stressed that "the only
solution to the Western Sahara conflict was to hold a
self-determination referendum and respect the UN peace plan in order
to complete the process of settling colonialism in the Saharawi
territory". Ghali added that "the Saharawi people and its unique and
legitimate representative, the Polisario Front, rejected any
alternative which does not respect the Saharawi people's unequivocal
right to self-determination and the immediate holding of a referendum
in accordance with the UN peace plan and the Organization of African
Unity."
SOLIDARITY
15.04.00
Western Sahara Campaign
At its general meeting in London the Western Sahara Campaign UK
passed a motion calling on "the international community and the UN to
act on their responsibilities to organise a referendum and in the
absence of Moroccan co-operation to do so, to recognise and afford
protection to the independent state of Western Sahara." It resolved
'to continue its support for POLISARIO in its actions to achieve the
liberation of the Saharawi people.'
COMING UP...
Sahara Marathon
On 27 February 2001 "The Sahara Marathon" will take place. It is a
benefit race on a world scale, whose aim is to draw attention to the
fate of the Saharawi refugees and to raise funds for humanitarian aid
for Saharawi children.
This is an initiative of 2 American NGOs, Shelter for Life and US
Western Sahara Foundation, affiliated with the National Union of
Saharawi Women. The event will happen in different ways at various
locations. A classic marathon (26,2 miles) will be run between the
refugee camps of El Ayoun and Smara, with various options
(half-marathon, 10km participation Race, 5km Celebration Run /Walk).
In parallel, anyone can become a "Companion Runner of the Sahara
Marathon" by participating in any race, making it a world-wide
sporting event, by wearing the official T shirt and paying a
registration fee towards the humanitarian aid.
For further information, see the web site http://www.saharamarathon.org, for the moment in English only, but it
will be translated and published in due course.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
[External links to newspapers
may not be valid after some days because the servers are
restarted]
English
- Morocco shows limits of tolerance, Mark Huband, Financial Times, London, 24.04.00.
- Morocco fights shy of political openness on Western Sahara, Mark Huband, Financial Times, London, 24.04.00.
- Polisario: Preparing for Desert War, Harris Paul, Combat & Survival, London, May 2000.
- Campaign raises cash for refugees, Hammond Grace, Yorkshire Post, Leeds, 03.05.00, p. 11.
- Deserted and Delayed, Luetchford Mark, Upfront, War on Want Magazine, London, Issue 21, Spring 2000, p. 5.
Français
- Kofi Annan invite la RASD, le Maroc, l'Algérie et la Mauritanie le 14 mai à Londres, Iguer Rabah, La Tribune, Alger, 03.05.00.
Catalan
- "Sahara al cor", Salvador Pallares i Paula Canet, publicat per l'Editorial 7 i mig, Barcelona, 2000.
Deutsch
- Das Lied als Waffe, Musik der Saharaouis, DRS2, in Radio Magazin, CH-Zuerich, 27.04.00.
- Zu forsch für den König, Die jüngste Nummer der marokkanischen Wochenzeitung "Le Journal" ist den Zensoren zum Opfer gefallen. Das Ende einer Narrenfreiheit, Meiler Oliver, Tagesanzeiger, CH-Zuerich, 29.04.00, p. 52.
Español
- Marruecos abandona el plan de paz, Gali Brahim, El Mundo, Madrid, 02.05.00.
- La ONU convoca a Rabat y al Polisario para hallar una 'tercera vía' al conflicto del Sáhara, Canales Pedro, El Pais, Madrid, 03.05.00.
- La ONU espera que el Polisario, Argelia, Marruecos y Mauritania vayan a Londres, La Provincia, Las Palmas, 03.05.00.
- El Polisario niega que haya tenido conversaciones con Marruecos, Sanz J. C., El Pais, Madrid, 04.05.00.
Toda la prensa española de la semana: http://www.nodo50.org/fpolisario/Prensa.htm
Italiano
- Ma' al-'Aynayn, il Marocco e la resistenza alla penetrazione coloniale (1905-1910), Correale Francesco, Oriente Moderno, nuova serie, anno XVII (LXXVIII), vol. 2, 1998, pp. 227-278.
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