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WEEKS 23-24 : 30.05. - 12.06.2004 |
13-31.05.04
Spring session of the Saharawi Parliament
The parliament organised on 31 May a "platform of solidarity" with
the Saharawi population in the occupied territory. Saharawi activists
from the occupied territory discussed live with parliamentarians and
replied to questions relating to the situation of Saharawi citizens
living under Moroccan occupation since 1975. The parliament nominated
two representatives to the Saharawi Constitutional Council
(specialised legal body). This new body, composed of five members,
was set up on 12 June, in accordance with a new Constitution agreed
at the last Congress. (SPS)
04.06.04
A South African delegation made up of representatives from the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Development, Cooperation and Health
paid an official visit to the Saharawi refugee camps.
(SPS)
07.06.04
Mohamed Abdelaziz sent a message to George W. Bush, to express the
Saharawi attitude to the recognition of Morocco as a major non-NATO
ally of the USA. He exhorted them to convince Morocco to submit to
international law. (SPS)
10.06.04
Lehbib Breica, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of SADR
for Ethiopia and the AU, presented his credentials to the Ethiopian
President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and to the President of the African
Union Alpha Omar Conaré.
10.06.04
Zahra Ramdan, NUSW (National Union of Saharawi Women) officer for
external relations, took part in an electoral meeting of the Madrid
PSOE, along with representatives of women's organisations from Iraq,
Palestine, Afghanistan and the President of women artists against
gender violence, Cristina del Valle.
Oil
08.06.04
The Saharawi government wrote to the two companies involved recently
in oil reconnaissance in Western Sahara, Wessex and Fugro.
(letters)
Fishing
11.06.04
Moroccan-Spanish Cooperation
Morocco asked for the cooperation of Spain in research on its marine
resources. The Spanish oceanographic ship Vizconde de Eza will
undertake, from 14 November until 13 December next, oceanographic
prospecting work in Moroccan deep waters. Other agreements have been
signed concerning training in the fishing sector.
Major diplomatic manoeuvres
Morocco-Algeria
Morocco "is indulging in a veritable diplomatic ballet through which
it attempts to sow confusion and obfuscation about the Algerian
position", declared Mohamed Sidati, Minister Counsellor and
Polisario Front representative at the European Union, speaking about
the visit of the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed
Benaïssa on 29 May to Algiers. The latter gave a verbal message
from the Moroccan sovereign to the Algerian President
Bouteflika.
France-Morocco
30.-31.05.04
After the failure of its attempt to bring together a four-sided
conference with Morocco, Algeria and Spain, the French government
continues to put pressure on Algeria, in order to turn the Saharawi
question into an Algerian-Moroccan problem and to impose the solution
of autonomy. Thus the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Michel
Barnier, affirmed, in an interview with MAP on the eve of his
official visit to Morocco, that "a rapprochement between Algiers and
Rabat is necessary, in our eyes, to settle the question of the
Sahara, "which impedes the integration of the Maghreb and therefore
the future of the people of the region and their relations with
Europe". "The solution of a broad-based autonomy for the territory
should be studied in an imaginative and constructive manner for all",
he added. Barnier travelled to Morocco with, according the Spanish
daily La Razon, a mandate from Chirac to favour a "French solution"
to the Saharan conflict, a solution which would counter the Spanish
initiative of "wide agreement between the parties".
Spain-Front
Polisario
02-03.06.04
A high-ranking Spanish government delegation, consisting of the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Bernardino León Gross,
the secretary general for Foreign Policy, Rafael Dezcallar, the
director general of the Department of Cooperation with Africa, Asia
and Eastern Europe, Ricardo Martínez, and the deputy director
for the Maghreb, Carlos Fernández-Arias travelled to the
refugee camps to meet Mohamed Abdelaziz and the Polisario Front
leadership. The talks between the two parties, which took place in
camera, were "frank and constructive", according to the Saharawi
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek. The Spanish
party reaffirmed "the attachment of Spain to international law within
the context of the United Nations", it was emphasised.
This is the first visit of Spanish government officials to the
Saharawi camps and the first official high-level meeting with
Polisario Front leadership.
The Moroccan authorities had been warned about it, which accounts for
the absence of any protests from Rabat.
Morocco-Spain
09.-11-06.04
The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Benaïssa,
carried out an official visit to Madrid. In a joint declaration at
the end of the visit, "the two parties reiterated their desire to
look for a just, consensual and lasting political solution to the
question of Western Sahara, negotiated by all the parties concerned,
within the context of international law and the efforts of the United
Nations."
11.06.04
Baker goes
The personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for
Western Sahara, James A. Baker III, resigned. It is the special
representative for Western Sahara, Alvaro de Soto, who will
take on Baker's mission.
Appointed in 1997 by Kofi Annan to get the peace plan out of an
impasse, the former US Secretary of State had as his mission to
reexamine the situation, to evaluate the how the settlement plan
could be implemented and to examine the possibility of alterations to
the plan, even to propose "other possible means" of resolving the
conflict.(weekly
news 12/1997)
His efforts resulted in 1997 with the Houston Agreement(, then
with protocols for agreements on identification, which allowed the
resumption and finalising of the process of designating electors at
the beginning of 2000. In June 2001 he presented the draft Framework
Agreement, called the Baker Plan I which were re-worked before being
submitted in May 2003 to the parties under the title of Peace plan
for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, or
Baker Plan II.
The latter, accepted in July 2003, by the Polisario Front as a basis
for discussion, and rejected by Morocco nearly a year later, was
ratified by the Security Council in its resolution S/RES/1541 du
Conseil de sécurité du 29.04.04. >>
Bye
Baker, background on WS Online
>> dossier
referendum
Reactions
11.06.04
For the Saharawi government, "this event represents undoubtedly a
serious setback in the effort expended by the UN over recent years to
resolve the last problem of decolonisation in Africa in a peaceful
and just manner".(Declaration
of SADR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. )
12.06.04
The representative of the Polisario Front in Spain, Brahim Gali,
interpreted the resignation of Baker as a protest against "the
intransigent position of Morocco" and "the lack of firmness and the
weakness of the Security Council to impose its resolutions, in
particular number 1495 of July 2003". (EUROPA PRESS)
Morocco regrets officially the resignation of Baker. For Mohamed Benaïssa, Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs, scarcely hiding his relief, the resignation of Baker is the result of the tenacity of cherifian diplomacy.
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs greets the efforts of James Baker for peace "in accordance with international law".
The Madrid daily, La Razon sees in this resignation one step further in the policy of the Bush government of rapprochement with Morocco. After having recognised Morocco as a major non-NATO ally and announced joint military manoeuvres off-shore from the Sahara, the way will be open for the USA to join in the Franco-Moroccan "negotiated political solution" respecting Morocco's sovereignty.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Miguel Angel Moratinos, on an official visit of Tunisia on 12.06.04, did not comment on the resignation, he affirmed that all the countries were working to find a solution to the question of the Sahara within the context of the UN.
03.06.04
Morocco-USA
The United States have conferred the status on Morocco of "major
non-NATO ally" for its support in the fight against terrorism. This
status in particular permits the lifting of restrictions on the sale
of armaments. Argentina, Australia, Bahrein, South Korea, Egypt,
Israël, Japan, Jordan, Kuweit, New Zealand, the Philippines and
Thailand benefit from this privileged ally status. (AFP)
Meanwhile, a journey to Washington for the king of Morocco has
been announced at a date yet to be determined.
American-Moroccan
military manoeuvres
Military manoeuvres involving navy and air force called "Majestic
Eagle 04" will take place from 10 to 17 July in the Moroccan waters
opposite the Canaries, between Casablanca and Agadir.
04.06.04
Independence movement tracts
The inhabitants of Guelimin were surprised to discover that all the
signs of the moussem of Asrir, which the Aït Lahsen tribes have
the custom of organising, had been burnt by persons unknown, who had
left instead tracts calling for "separatism". This is the first
demonstration of the kind in the region for at least twenty years.
(Al-Ousbou, Maroc)
08.06.04
During a "technical" reshuffle of the government, the Ministry of
Human Rights was abolished.
Morocco-Africa
The king of Morocco will carry out a tour of five sub-Saharan African
countries from 15 to 25 June. This tour, which aims to reaffirm
Morocco's "African vocation", will take the monarch from Cotonou
(Benin) to Yaoundé (Cameroon), Libreville (Gabon) and Niamey
(Niger) to finish in Dakar (Senegal).
03.06.04
The Liberal party asks the government what action it has undertaken
to forward peace in Western Sahara, in particular if the government
has sought the support of France and Spain for a referendum and the
peace process.
28.05.04
AFAPREDESA inaugurated in the refugee camps the Marguerite Emery
Centre for information and promotion of human rights in Western
Sahara. (communiqué AFAPREDESA, french+
spanish
)
02.06.04
Arbitrary
Arrests
Two Saharawi human rights activists were arrested arbitrarily in
Casablanca and Rabat. Mohamed Cheikh Elmoutaouakil and Banbaya
Mohamed Khalili said to have figured on a search warrant concerning
an inquiry into a Polisario Front network which had led to the arrest
in 1999, 2000 and 2002 of five Saharawi activists. After three hours
of interrogation, they were released and the proceedings
"annulled'.
08.06.04
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that the government
will double its humanitarian aid to the Saharawi refugees. The same
declaration from the Canaries Office for the Exterior, states that
over 30% of the aid destined for Africa goes to the Saharawi
people.
2ª Conferencia Internacional sobre la Información en el Sahara , en TOLEDO 27-30.06.04: Conclusiones
ASAPS premiada
con el 5º Galardón del Bajoaragonés del
año.
l galardón de este año ha sido concedido a la
candidatura de Acción Solidaria con el Pueblo Saharaui
(ASAPS), asociación solidaria con el pueblo saharaui en la
provincia de Teruel, en reconocimiento a su labor de apoyo a los
refugiados Saharauís.
Jo Sóc de Mahbes (Yo soy de Mahbes ), video de Toni Cuadras, Producción: ACAPS-ANOIA / Ajuntament de Igualada / Ultimo Round P.A Catalunya, 2003. Duración: 25 minutos. El vídeo se puede solicitar a: Associació Catalana d'Amics del Poble Sahrauí - ANOIA, Isabel Orgué 93.803.91.05 / 626.119.643, isisort@hotmail.com
San
Sebastián, los días 24 y 25 de junio de 2004
ENCUENTRO
ESTATAL DE INSTITUCIONES HERMANADAS Y/O SOLIDARIAS CON EL PUEBLO
SAHARAUI.
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Deux livres
aux éditions Tarik, Casablanca, relatifs aux victimes de
Tazmamart:
«L'opération Borak F5 et les révélations
sur l'affaire du Boeing (16 Août 1972)», Ahmed El
Ouafi.
«Kabazal, les emmurés de Tazmamart», Abdelhak
Serhane, mémoires de Salah et Aïcha Hachad.
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