|
WEEKS 45-46 : 31.10.-13.11.2004 |
02.11.04,
Moroccan Press
Mohamed Abdelaziz gave an interview to the Moroccan weekly, El
Bidaoui, which reproduced 4 out of the 7 initial questions and
answers. Questioned on Moroccan-Saharawi bilateral negotiations which
took place fairly recently, the SADR President expressed his
disappointment at the way Morocco has denied agreements which it had
been difficult to obtain and side-stepped them. The last time being a
final attempt by South Africa to mediate, which Morocco wriggled out
of at the last minute.
He took advantage of this platform to launch "an appeal to the
Moroccan avant-garde, its cultured and enlightened members, to
refrain from circulating half-truths and lies to the Moroccan
people". Adding that "it is high time to recognise this age-old
Saharawi reality and to give up lying and propaganda which the
Moroccan people have been subjected to since the beginning of the
conflict, presenting the Saharawi State as being harmful to the
national interests of Morocco and its people. We refute these
assertions and affirm the contrary, and we reaffirm to our Moroccan
brothers that our project for the Saharawi state is based on a global
vision which safeguards the interests of all, a state capable of
participating positively in complementarity, democracy and the
development of the region." [full text translated
into English
by SPS]
04.11.04,
Mali
The envoy of the Saharawi President, Khalil Sidi M'Hamed, Minister
for the Occupied Territories, carrying a message from the Saharawi
President to his Malian counterpart, was received in Bamako by the
President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré.
[SPS].
10.11.04,
Mozambique
The Saharawi Embassy in Maputo announces that Mr Adda Hmeim had
presented his credentials to the Mozambican President, Joaquim
Alberto Chissano, as Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary for
SADR with the Government of the Republic of Mozambique.
[SPS]
10.11.04,
Mauritania
The President of the Republic of Mauritania, Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed
Taya, gave an audience to El Khalil Sidi M'Hamed, Saharawi Minister
for Colonies, as special envoy of the President of SADR.
[SPS]
28.10.04,
Smara
In a statement, Saharawi unemployed graduates from Smara denounce
police harrassment and social and economic conditions which result
from Morocco's policy of occupation of Western Sahara. They demand
the support of human rights organisations to deliver Western Sahara
from the present political and media blockade, so that pressure is
brought to bear on Morocco to improve their living conditions and
remove all violence towards Saharawis.
06.11.04,
Launch of local television in El Ayoun.
Moroccan TV inaugurates a daily three-hour slot in Hassaniya , "of a
political nature to counteract the propaganda of the Polisario".
There will be both terrestrial and satellite coverage.
[agencies]
07.11.04,
Smara
Reacting to increasing popular discontent in Smara, two Moroccan
political parties (Socialist Youth of the USFP and the PPS, Party of
Progress and Socialism) organise a "popular gathering" in Smara,
presided over by the Secretary General of the JS, accompanied by the
parliamentarian, Gajmoula Bent Abbi, three members of the political
executive of the PPS, including a minister, local officials of the JS
and the PPS with about a hundred people present. The meeting, whose
aim is to "reinforce the interior front", lasts for nearly five hours
and is devoted to the latest developments of the Sahara question, to
the catastrophic economic management of the region and prospects for
development. [Al
Bayane,
Le
Matin]
08.11.04, El
Ayoun
Creation in El Ayoun of a local committee of support for the
international campaign for the protection of human rights defenders
in Western Sahara. Led by an executive of thirteen members with Tamek
Ali Salem as chair, it is made up of Saharawi lawyers, trades
unionists and former political prisoners in the occupied territories.
It launches an appealfor the support of the human rights defenders in
Western Sahara by sending messages to the Moroccan government.
[see
special page
] [SPS]
10.11.04, El
Ayoun
The Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders in "the territory
of Western Sahara under Moroccan control" calls for solidarity and
support for Saharawi human rights defenders, it denounces acts of
intimidation perpetrated by Moroccan authorities towards them and
demands the measures taken against them to be annulled and for
respect of the right to freedom of association for Saharawi human
rights organisations. [Statement
]
Reactions after the adoption of resolution 1570 in the Security Council
30.10.04,
SADR
Moroccan attempts aiming to give a new mandate to the United Nations
Secretary General's special representative in order to introduce
amendments or make adjustments to the Baker paln "were completely
ignored by the Security Council", declares M'hamed Khaddad, Saharawi
coordinator with MINURSO, to APS. According to Khaddad, the Security
Council notes the present impasse in the decolonization process in
Western Sahara "which is entirely due to the Moroccan regime which
(...) has rejected the peace plan presented by James Baker".
[El Moudjahid]
30.10.04,
France
France "supports the search for a political solution accepted by all
the parties, within the framework and under the aegis of the United
Nations", it "hopes that these six months can be used by the parties
to work with the Secretary General as well as with his Special
Representative, and between them, reach a mutually agreeable
settlement", a spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs declares.
01.11.04,
Algeria
It is with great satisfaction that Algeria welcomes the unanimous
adoption by the Security Council of resolution 1570 on Western
Sahara", declares the spokesperson of the Algerian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
01.11.04,
Morocco
Morocco warmly welcomes the adoption of resolution 1570 on the
question of the Sahara, calling for "an end to the present impasse
and progress towards a political solution", a statement from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates.
Moroccan diplomatic offensive
Finding it
necessary to garner support for its position in a Moroccan-Algerian
conflict, Morocco undertakes a broad based diplomatic action. Acting
as the personal emissary of the King, the Moroccan Minister for
Foreign Affairs, accompanied by a large delegation, visits one after
the other, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,
Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, most of whom voted
for the resolution favouring SADR in the 4th Committee. Benaïssa
also travels to Saudi Arabia.
EFE, announces on 6 November, quoting Al Sharq al Awsat, that the
King of Morocco will undertake from 22 November, a tour of Latin
America and that he will visit Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and
Chile.
31.10.04,
Egypt' mediation: denial
In the rush of the visit of the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs
to Cairo, agencies report that the Egyptian government wants to
promote contact between Algeria and Morocco, "who are opponents in
the conflict in Western Sahara", according to the spokesman of
President Mubarak.
The Saharawi government expresses its "astonishment and surprise"
through the voice of its Minister for Foreign Affairs, M. Mohamed
Salem ould Salek [Déclaration
01.11.04] [Declaración
01.11.04 ]
The Algerian Ministry for Foreign Affairs immediately spells out that the question of Western Sahara is a problem of decolonization, that Algeria is not a party in the conflict, and, on 3 November, the spokesman of the Egyptian President denies the news, adding that the question of Western Sahara is in the hands of the UN and that Egypt was keen that the dispute should not affect relations between Morocco and Algeria (sic). [Official Egypt Government website ]
04.11.04,
Tunisia
The Spanish news agency EFE, alleges that Morocco requested the
mediation of Tunisia when the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs
visited the country. The Algerian President has a brief meeting in
Tunis with his Tunisian counterpart, to inform him, among other
things, about the question of Western Sahara.
09.11.04,
Zimbabwe' mediation : denial
Zimbabwean media announce that Benaïssa allegedly asked for the
mediation of their president, Robert Mugabe, which was immediately
taken up and widely reported internationally only to be rapidly
denied, by the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs, according to
the BBC.
06.11.04,
Morocco, 29th anniversary of the Green March
Royal Speech
Mohamed VI reaffirms that the question of territorial integrity of
Morocco is an "affair of national identity which is one and
indivisible" and "an inalienable historic right which suffers no
concession". He calls the political parties, the elected Councils and
all active forces to "get more effectively involved in the chosen
course of arguing for and defending the justice of the cause of our
territorial integrity, in the framework of an efficient plan of
action, accompanying and completing the efforts deployed by official
diplomacy."
07.11.04,
SADR, reaction
The Polisario Front strongly denounces "the tone of escalation"
expressed by Mohamed VI on the occasion of the "infamous anniversary
of the Black March". 'The tone of escalation and the appeal to
mobilisation is a dangerous and irresponsible step to make, and the
Moroccan government takes full responsibility for the consequences
which could arise from it," warns a statement from the Ministry of
Information. [SPS]
12.11.04
From an official source it is announced that the Spanish Prime
Minister, Zapatero will receive the Secretary General of the
Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, on 26 November in Madrid.
Zapatero will meet the Polisario leader to discuss the conflict in
the Sahara. [SPS]
01.11.04,
Summit
In an interview the Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs reveals
that Spain, France and Morocco invited Algeria to a four-power summit
in order to discuss the conflict over the Western Sahara. [see
weeks 19/20
and 23/24
2004]. The Minister confirms that Algeria notified the
authors of the initiative that the Polisario Front, being the sole
legal representative of the Sahrawi people, is the principal party
concerned by this summit. Algeria is therefore not concerned by such
summits.. [Monday
Morning
(Beyrout)],
Basri sticks
to his guns
Virulent criticism registered after his "Western Sahara" on Al
Jazeera, have not dampened Basri, who, in an interview with the
Madrid daily La Razon, affirms that the referendum is the only
solution to the conflict in Western
Sahara.[La
Razon,
07.11.04] ] [English
translation
by SPS]
Questioned on Algerian national radio, Driss Basri affirms again
that the UN peace plan "is still valid", contrary to the official
position of Rabat which has called it obsolete. These remarks give
rise to a new storm of disapproval and invective in the Moroccan
media, shouting "felony", and "treason" and describing him as "the
spokesman of Bouteflika".
The Moroccan
press agency champion of misinformation:
An example among others: on 08.11 MAP headlines "The Algerian people
are no longer interested in the POLISARIO, according to an Algerian
political leader", pointing to an interview given by the Secretary
General of RCD, Said Saadi to a Moroccan weekly, La Gazette du Maroc.
The next day, the Algerian poltician makes it known that he gave no
interview to the Moroccan press...[Nouvelle
République]
09.11.04
The Parliament of the Balearic Islands approved a declaration "in
favour of the right to self-determination and independence of the
Saharawi people through a free, democratic, transparent and urgent
referendum". A Saharawi delegation led by the President of the
Saharawi parliament, Ali Beiba attended the session.
10.11.04
The body, Equity and Reconciliation (IER), in charge of sorting out
14,000 cases of abuse from the "leaden years" in Morocco, will
proceed to "public hearings" of witnesses and victims of forced
disappearance and torture carried out between 1956 and 1999, which
will also involve abuses in Western Sahara.
JORNADA DE
COORDINACION de la Dirección de Prevención del
Ministerio de Salud de la RASD
18 - 19 de noviembre - Campamentos de refugiados
Programa
16 - 19.12.04
Segunda edición del Festival
de Cine del Sáhara,
en los campos de refugiados de Tinduf
Los interesados han de contactar con la organización, antes
del 30 de noviembre próximo, en el teléfono 915321180,
o en el e-mail festival-2@festivalsahara.com.
[Y
el cine llegó al desierto,
El Mundo, 08.11.04]
5. Sahara
Marathon : 28.02.2005
Info: http://www.saharamarathon.org/
Italy: http://www.saharawi.org/
Germany: http://www.tuerlings.de/saharamarathon/main.html
NEW
PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
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Revista de la prensa en español: http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/revista-de-prensa-sahara-occidental/messages
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