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WEEKLY NEWS |
original french
12.-18.01.2003
- SADR
- OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
- REFERENDUM
- MOROCCO
- EUROPE
- INTERNET
- NEW PUBLICATION
SADR
Mourning
Abidin Kaid Salah died in Madrid after a several month of severe
illness.
Militant of the Polisario Front since its foundation and combattant
of the Saharawi Liberation Army, he was the first Saharawi war
reporter and filmed several war documentaries. He was seriously
wounded in the battle of "LEBUERAT" in 1983 but continued to fight
untill 1990. His friends remember him as a man of great courage and
firmness in his struggle against Moroccan occupation and for
independance, a man who loved his people and his country. His body
has been repatriated and buried in his native land the
SADR.(corr.)
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
07.01.03
Ali Salem Tamek wrote to the personal representative of the UN
Secretary General to express to him his categorical rejection of any
proposals for partial solutions to the conflict in Western Sahara,
which, according to him, can only end with the organisation of a free
and impartial referendum of self-determination.
(Full
text)
The Collective of Saharawi Human Rights defenders "from the territory
of Western Sahara under Moroccan control" sent a letter in the same
vein to James Baker. (Full
text )
13.01.03
In El Ayoun prison 26 Saharawi political detainees observed a 48-hour
hunger strike with Nassiri and Bazeid (see week 02/03), to protest
about the conditions under which they are being held. Ali Salem
Tamek, imprisoned in Salé, associated himself with their
action.
The group announced a second hunger strike to last five days starting
from 20 January. These protest actions from within prison found a
response in university campuses. A student caravan of solidarity with
the Saharawi political detainees will leave the university campus of
Agadir, pass by Marrakech and Rabat and finish in Casablanca. Debates
will be organised and stands set up to present to university
audiences the reality of serious human rights abuses in Western
Sahara, and to demand the release of all political detainees and for
light to be shed on the fate of the disappeared.
(corr.)
The Swiss branch of Amnesty International included Tamek in its world «Lettres contre l'oubli» (Letters against forgetting) and asks people to write to the Moroccan Minister for Justice.
Assa
Representatives of local branches in Assa of political parties,
trades unions and Moroccan amazigh cultural associations published at
the end of December 2002 a statement of solidarity with Tamek and
called for his release. This step did not please the leaders of these
organisations who recalled them to order, describing Tamek as "the
enemy of Moroccan territorial integrity". Also the head of the
Division of General Affairs of the province of Assa, on the orders of
the Ministry of the Interior, summoned the authors of the statement
to express his disapproval. However, they simply reiterated their
solidarity with Tamek. (corr.)
REFERENDUM
James
Baker's tour of Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania
UN preliminary
A UN spokesperson indicated in New York that Baker would present at
the talks "a proposal for a political solution of the conflict of
Western Sahara offering (to the population) a possibility of
self-determination as requested by the Security Council resolution
1429 of 30 July last."
14.01.03:
Agadir - before the meeting
Morocco will not make any concessions on its "territorial integrity",
an authorised governmental source assured. Morocco "will listen to Mr
Baker and will examine his proposals", but the kingdom "will make no
concessions on its territorial integrity". "There is only one
southern border of Morocco, which is the one with
Mauritania."
Agadir - the
meeting
Mohamed VI received James Baker in the royal palace of Agadir. He was
accompanied by William Swing, UN Secretary General's representative
for the Sahara, in the presence of Mohamed Benaïssa, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Mustapha Sahel, Minister of the
Interior, Taïb Fassi Fihri, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs
and Co-operation, Fouad Ali Himma, deputy minister for the Interior
and Mohamed Bennouna, permanent representative of Morocco to the
UN.
Agadir - after
the meeting
James Baker affirmed that his present tour in the region was aiming
"to arrive at an initiative allowing a political settlement of the
question of the Sahara". In a declaration on the television channel
"Abu Dhabi", Baker indicated having made a proposal in this sense to
Mohamed VI and to the Moroccan government for examination.
Mohamed Benaïssa declared that Morocco is giving time to "study
the draft and the proposals of James Baker in a constructive spirit,
paying homage to the efforts which he is making, which strengthen his
credibility day by day and increase his knowledge of the issue". The
Moroccan minister of Foreign Affairs added that Morocco reiterates
"its entire disposition to co-operate with the United Nations, as it
has always done, and expresses its attachment to international law
through respect for the national sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the kingdom".
14.01.03
Algiers - before the meeting
Referring to the construction of the Union of the Arab Maghreb,
Abdelaziz Bouteflika pointed out that this "would be strengthened
when the aspirations of the Saharawi people to the free exercise of
their right to self-determination are fulfilled through the
implementation of an impartial settlement plan of the United Nations
(...)".
15.01.03
Algiers - the meeting
Abdelaziz Bouteflika received James Baker at the seat of the
Presidency, in the presence of Abdelaziz Belkhadem, Minister of
State, Minster of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Ouyahia, Minister of State,
personal representative of the President of the Republic, Abdelkader
Messahel, Deputy Minister with a brief for Maghreb and African
affairs, Abdellatif Rahal, diplomatic counselor of the President of
the Republic, Larbi Belkheir, director of the cabinet at the
Presidency, Mohamed Bedjaoui, President of the Constitutional Council
and Abdallah Baali, permanent representative of Algeria at the United
Nations.
Algiers -
after the meeting
James Baker affirmed to the press that he was the bearer of a new
proposal for the settlement of the question of Western
Sahara.
15.01.03
Rabouni (refugee camps)- before the meeting
"There will be no popular welcome, as was the case for the first
visit of James Baker here", indicated Bachir El Mehdi, officer
responsible for the reception of journalists coming from Algiers and
Spain. "We are neither optimistic nor pessimistic, we are waiting
before making a judgement", declared Mhamed Khaddad, Saharawi
coordinator with MINURSO. "We will work with James Baker within the
context of respect for international law. Our position is known and
we are not asking for the impossible. We want a democratic
solution."
16.01.03
Rabouni - the meeting
Baker was received for an hour by President Mohamed Abdelaziz and the
Saharawi authorities, to whom he handed over his plan for a
solution.
Rabouni -
after the meeting
In a statement to the press, Baker indicated that he is waiting for a
response from the parties to his proposals before 1 March next. The
new plan will not be presented to the next meeting of the Security
Council at the end of January 2003, there will just be a resolution
for a technical extension of the mandate of MINURSO until the end of
March, when Baker will present his plan and the responses of the
parties.
For the Polisario Front the new plan presented under a misleading title of "Peace Plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara", retains the same orientation and the same objectives as the Framework-Agreement (week 26/2001), with the introduction of certain amendments of no great importance.
16.01.03
Nouakchott
James Baker handed to the Mauritanian President Maaouiya Ould Taya a
copy of his settlement plan. Baker declared as he left the meeting
that his talks with Mr Ould Taya had been "very friendly and
constructive" on the subject of the plan, the details of which he
refused to reveal.
17.01.03: Manifestation is organized by the Coordinadora estatal de asociaciones de solidaridad y amistad con el pueblo saharaui in front of the French embassy in Madrid, later in front of the US Embassy. Letters to President Jacques Chirac and G.W.Bush will be handed over. A similar manifestation takes place in front of the French consulate in Bilbao, organized by the solidarity associations of Asturias, Navarra, Rioja, Bask Country and Aragon. (>> Carta a J. Chirac Presidente de la República Francesa >> Carta a G.W. Bush, Presidente de los Estados Unidos de América.)
European
Union
In June 2002, the MEP Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR)
asked the Council (E-1732/02), what measures it intended to take with
regard to the Moroccan government following the expulsion of a
delegation of Spanish politicians and journalists in El Ayoun (see
week 23/02).
In its reply on 19 December 2002, the Council stated it fully
supported the efforts of the UN to arrive at a solution of the
conflict in Western Sahara, and favoured all contacts, including
personal ones, which might contribute towards creating a climate of
confidence between the parties.
15.01.03
Strasbourg: European Parliamentary Intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi
People"
After its meeting, the intergroup declared that it wished to follow
closely the visit of James Baker and the discussions which would take
place in New York before 31 January and that it was seriously
concerned by the situation of Saharawi political prisoners in
Morocco. It also welcomed the position of the Spanish government
supporting the UN peace plan. (Press
release)
MOROCCO
16.01.03
Morocco-USA-France
During his visit to Morocco, the French deputy minister for external
trade, François Loos, criticised the Moroccan government: "It
is difficult for Morocco to be a privileged partner of the European
Union (EU) and to conclude at the same time a zone of free-exchange
with the United States." "We can discuss everything, but we cannot
aim for two things which are incompatible", he said a propos of the
negotiations planned to take place between Rabat and Washington for
the conclusion of a free-trade agreement, which will open in
Washington on 21 January. Morocco could thus become the first country
of the African continent to benefit from a system of free-exchange
with the United States, which until now has only made agreements of
this kind with four countries: Canada, Mexico, Jordan and Israel.
(agencies)
16.01.03
Algeria-Morocco
According to Jeune Afrique, quoting a Moroccan diplomatic source, a
meeting between President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Mohamed VI has
been agreed in principle. It could take place at the beginning of
February, once the conclusions of James Baker's mission are made
known. This rapprochement would be warmly encouraged by the United
States and by France.
INTERNET
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