original french

15-16.12.00
Diplomacy
As part of his tour of the Maghreb, Mr Allen Keiswetter, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, went to Tindouf, where, on 16 December, he met the SADR President, Mohamed Abdelaziz. The talks had bearing among other things on "regional security", according to SPS. The American diplomat, who welcomed the liberation of Moroccan prisoners of war by the Polisario Front as "a highly appreciated act", visited the wilaya of El Ayoun and also went to Tifariti in the liberated territories. (SPS)

19.12.00
Denial
The Polisario Front denied information reported by the official Moroccan press agency MAP, according to which 12 Saharawis had been arrested by the Algerian authorities while attempting to reach Morocco. (SPS)

19.12.00
Youssoufi Interview, El Pais
Replying to a question from a journalist about the proposals that Morocco is due to the UN in the Spring to get around the referendum of self-determination in Western Sahara, the Moroccan Prime Minister replies: «I do not want to anticipate the detail, but the main idea, in the context of our decentralisation, is to take into account the characteristics of that region. It's a matter of allowing the inhabitants of that province to manage their own affairs. We are studying models of regionalisation in other countries.»
On the subject of the Polisario Front's military manoeuvres and the risk of the resumption of armed conflict, the head of the Moroccan government stated: «We do not believe that all the threats issued will be put into practice. We have confidence in the wisdom of the leaders of countries in the region, who will not permit them to take this initiative.»

22.12.00 Paris - Dakar Rally The Saharawi Ministry of Information published an urgent press release following the news about the planned crossing of the Western Sahara by the Paris-Dakar Rally. The Polisario Front considers this as an «insult to the will of the Saharawi people, a challenge to the UN, a support to the Moroccan colonial "fait accompli" and consequently as a violation of the cease-fire». The Polisario Front announces that it will consider itself free of all commitment vis-à-vis the truce in force and, therefore, will, in self-defense, resume its military activities the very day when the rally would cross the Morocco-Saharawi border. The 23th Paris - Dakar Rally should cross the Western Sahara border in its seventh stage, Goulimine-Smara (489 km), on Sunday 7 January. (communiqué Ministère de l'information)

INTERNET

Sahara marathon
El Diario "EL Mundo" ha iniciado el día 16 de diciembre, un especial sobre el Marathón del Sáhara que se actualizará periódicamente: http://www.elmundo.es/saharamarathon/index.html

NEW PUBLICATIONS
[External links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the servers are restarted]

Français

• Tindouf voit partir les plus vieux prisonniers du monde, Zine Cherfaoui, La Tribune, Alger, 16.12.00.

Castellano

• Revista de la prensa española de la semana: http://www.nodo50.org/fpolisario/Prensa.htm
• Página oficial del Maratón del Sáhara, Se celebrará el 27 de febrero en medio del desierto, Alfredo Merino, El Mundo, Madrid, 15.12.00.
• Conclusiones: Asamblea de reflexion sobre la Solidaridad con el Pueblo saharaui - la Solidaritat amb el Poble saharauí - Barcelona , 28.10.00.
• Abderrahman Yussufi, primer ministro marroqui: "Los semanarios prohibidos osaron atacar al Ejército", Ignacio Cembrero, El Pais, Madrid, 19.12.00.
• Los islamistas marroquíes abren nuevos frentes de lucha contra el Gobierno, Ignacio Cembrero, El Pais, Madrid, 22.12.00.
• Mohamed VI reitera su apoyo a Yussufi pese a sus medidas represoras, Ignacio Cembrero, El Pais, Madrid, 23.12.00.
• La flota gallega reclama la intervención de la ONU para faenar en Marruecos, Xornal, 23.12.00.

Deutsch

• Sahara-Info, Bulletin des SUKS, Bern, No 77, Dezember 2000, 8 p.

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