WESTERN SAHARA
WEEKLY NEWS
|
WEEK 06
07.-13.02.1999
08.02.99
Moroccan lobbying
A special envoy of King Hassan II gave Russian Prime Minister
Primakov a message from the King to transmit to Boris Yeltsin.
Primakov restated Russia 's support for Secretary-General Kofi
Annan's efforts to save the peace plan and ensure the holding of a
self-determination referendum in the Western Sahara. He stressed that
Russia's position on this issue is that the principle of
self-determination should be respected while taking into account the
interests of all parties concerned (Itar-Tass).
11.02.99
SOFA
Following months of delay, Morocco signed the "Status of Forces
Agreement" with the United Nations defining the legal status of U.N.
troops in the disputed Western Sahara territory. Signing the pact was
Ahmed Senussi, Morocco's U.N. ambassador, and Bernard Miyet, the U.N.
undersecretary-general in charge of peacekeeping. Algeria and
Mauritania signed in November.
11.02.99
Security Council Resolution
S/RES/1228,
1999
The Security Council adopting resolution 1228 (1999) unanimously,
extends the mandate of the MINURSO, until March 31, "to allow for
consultations in the hope and expectation of agreement on the
protocols on identification, appeals and repatriation planning
activities, as well as on the essential issue of the implementation
calendar, without undermining the integrity of the
Secretary-General's proposed package or calling into question its
main elements, for the prompt resumption of voter identification and
initiation of the appeals process."
11.02.99
Sahrawi statement
The Polisario representative to the United Nations, Ahmed Boukhari,
stated that Morocco's signing of the Status of Forces Agreement is
"certainly a gesture, but a lot remains to be done." The resolution
gives Morocco a reprieve to accept the Secretary-General's proposals
and, according to Boukhari, "if Morocco bends to the will of the
international community, which is what we are hoping for, the
referendum process could be undertaken without great difficulty. But
if Morocco continues its intransigence, it will have to take
responsibility for derailing the process."
10.02.99
SADR: Government reorganization
Following a vote of non-confidence by the Sahrawi parliament,
President Abdelaziz named a new government of SADR composed as
follows:
|
Prime Minister |
M.Bouchraya Hamoudy Beyoune ( former Minister of Commerce) |
|
Minister of Occupied Territories and Emigration |
M. Mahfoud Ali Beiba (former Prime Minister) |
|
Minister of Interior |
M. Bachir Moustapha Sayed ( former Minister of Public Health) |
|
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation |
M. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek |
|
Minister of Economic Development |
M. Boulahi Mohamed Fadel ( former Minister de l'Enseignement) |
|
Minister of Public Health |
M. Mansur Omar (Polisario representative to Spain ) |
|
Minister Equipment and Construction |
M. Larabass Said Joumani |
|
Minister of National Defense |
M. Mohamed Lamine Bouhali |
|
Minister of Education |
M. Salek Bobih (Ambassador to Algeria) |
|
Minister of Information |
M. Mohamed Fadel Ismaïl (Polisario representative to France) |
|
Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs |
M. Hametti Rabani |
|
Minister of Culture |
M. Mohamed Bouzeid |
|
Minister of Transports |
M. Abeida Cheikh |
|
Minister Councellor of the Presidency |
M. Mohamed Sidati |
|
Minister Councellor of the Presidency |
M. Malainine Sadik |
|
Secretary General of the Presidency |
M. Daf Mohamed Fadel |
|
Secretary General of the Government |
M. Habiboullah Mohamed Kori ( former Minister of Transports) |
11.02.99
Democracy at work
The British daily The Guardian reports that the reshuffling of the
SADR government was the outcome of a vote of no confidence by the
Sahrawi parliament. The Guardian journalist who was present during
the session argues that this is an indicator of the remarkable
situation in the Western Sahara and a demonstration of democracy at
work, and, as the Saharawi President Mohamed Abdelaziz himself said,
an independent Western Sahara could become a "beacon for democracy"
in the region. (The Guardian/APS)
NEW PUBLICATIONS
- Deserted in the Sahara, Tibbet Steve, Tribune (Brittain), 29.01.99.
- UN to cut short peace mission in Sahara, Hooper John, The Guardian (Brittain), 01.02.99.
- Western Sahara: no referendum, no peace, Dabrowska Karen, The New Worker (Brittain), 05.02.99.
- El jurista Felipe Briones cree que el Sáhara logrará la independencia, L.H., Ultima Hora, Baleares, 07.02.99.
- A long wait on last frontier of colonial strife, Hooper John, reporting from Western Sahara, The Guardian (Brittain), 09.02.99.
- "Desert war threat", a letter to the editor by Lord Wise, The Independent (Brittain),11.02.99.
- The Polisario's Marxist past sinks into the desert sands, Hooper John, The Guardian (Brittain), 11.02.99.
- Morocco keeps stalling, Palham Nick, Middle East International (Brittain).12.02.99.
- La ONU prorroga por un mes la misión en el Sahara, ABCe, 12.02.99.
- BAHARA, revista mensual de la Asociación Barakaldo con el Sahara -Salam- Barakaldo Sahararekin, nº 12 febrero 1999.
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