original french

29.07.01
Censorship
The Spanish daily El Pais of 22.07 was banned from distribution in Morocco because of the publication of a critical assessment of the king's reign and the government. Reporters without Frontiers protested. Since the beginning of the year already three papers have been banned from distribution, because of articles treating Western Sahara or the politics of Mohamed VI. (RSF)

30.07.01
Morocco
On the occasion of the second anniversary of his accession to the throne, Mohamed VI declared in his speech:
«Proceeding from our confidence in the kingdom's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we have responded to the Security Council's resolutions and to the UN secretary-general's proposals and to the efforts of his personal representative, and we engaged in assiduous talks with them to find a political solution to a fabricated conflict on the basis of the Moroccan character of our [Western] Sahara within the wide context of regionalization, democracy, consensus and Morocco's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. We believe that our cause is just and have put the development of our southern provinces at the top of our priorities. We have instructed our government to take all the necessary measures to guarantee a dignified life to all our loyal subjects in our southern provinces, whether those who live there or those who have returned [from the refugee camps in western Algeria] to the forgiving homeland...»

01.08.01
Slovenia
The papal nuncio in Slovenia, Edmond Farhat reiterates his full support of the legitimate right of the Saharawi people to self-determination, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Slovenian Western Sahara support society.

Quotation of the week

«Morocco, which has far more political clout than its weaker southern neighbours, has failed to reach a new [fisheries] accord with the EC. It also illegally controls the rich waters of Western Sahara - territory it occupied in 1975». The battle for West Africa's fish, Tim Judah, BBC News Online, 30 July, 2001, 14:27 GMT.
A vigilant observer told us that the word "illegally" disappeared from the text in subsequent broadcasts.

SOLIDARITY

The Canary Association of Friends of the Saharawi People issued an invitation on its webpage  to sign and send a letter to various international bodies, asking for the rapid holding of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. Everybody can participate.

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

français

• Mohammed VI fête ses deux ans de pouvoir, Thierry Oberlé, Le Figaor, Paris, 28.07.01, page 2.
• Mohammed VI revient en scène après deux ans de règne, José Garçon, Libération, Paris, 01.08.01.

castellano

• Noticias de prensa, Recopilación semanal de todos los articulos de la prensa de España: http://www.nodo50.org/labarored/interpueblos/actividad/sahara_occidental/noticias/
• Mohamed VI generó muchas expectativas a su llegada al trono que ahora no se cumplen, Antonio Baquero, El Periodico de Aragon, 24.07.01.
• El monarca alauí se muestra favorable al plan de Baker, Ignacio Cembrero, El Pais, Madrid, 31.07.01.

english

• Morocco's monarchy under fire, News24.com, 30.07.01.
• The battle for West Africa's fish, Tim Judah, BBC News, 30.07.01.

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