|
|
WESTERN |
WSC Northern Office |
|
|
CAMPAIGN |
Tel/fax: 01 13 245 4786 |
|
WORKING FOR JUSTICE FOR THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE |
E-mail : 100427.10233223@COMPUSERVE.COM | |
|
MEDIA RELEASE |
11 JUNE 97 |
|
BAKER IN LONDON FOR SAHARA TALKS | |
UN envoy James Baker meets Moroccan and Polisario representatives in London today and tomorrow. Keith Lomax, Chair of the Western Sahara Campaign UK believes that " the very survival of the Saharawi people could depend upon the result of these meetings".
Bachir Mustafa Sayed, the Polisario Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdelatif Filali, Moroccan Prime Minister, and Driss Basri, Moroccan Interior Minister, will meet UN officials on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 June with the technical assistance of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. High Representatives from neighbouring Mauritania and Algeria will also attend. The first meeting will take place from 9.30 AM at Carlton House, 1 Carlton Gardens, LONDON SW1Y 5AA. It is expected that a photo-call will be held during the day.
The two parties have disputed the sovereignty of WESTERN SAHARA following the Moroccan occupation in 1975. James Baker, former US Secretary of State, will attempt to resolve problems which for six years have prevented the UN from holding a referendum for the self-determination of the people of this former Spanish colony in North West Africa.
After 17 years of fighting Morocco and Polisario accepted the UN/OAU Peace Plan in 1991. The Plan was devised to allow 74'000 Saharawi people counted in the 1974 Spanish census of Western Sahara the right to determine their future under a referendum. Morocco wishes to include a further 12'000 voters, the majority of whom reside in Morocco.
Human Rights Watch have reported that Morocco has regularly engaged in conduct which has obstructed and compromised the fairness of the voter indentification process. Amnesty International also reported that Morocco has arrested, tortured and disappeared hundreds of Saharawi people during its occupation of the territory.
On March 17, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed James Baker as his special envoy for Western Sahara in attempt to break the diplomatic deadlock. Bill Richardson, US representative to the UN stated that "the Baker initiative may very well constitute the last, best hope for resolution of the Western Sahara problem". He made it clear that without a breakthrough in negociations, the US will withdraw support for MINURSO.
Douglas Dryden, former US Military Representative to MINURSO, recently warned the UN General Assembly that without a settlement renewed conflict could devastate the region. It is estimated that Morocco spends $ 1 million a day on its military occupation of Western Sahara.
For further informations:
WESTERN SAHARA CAMPAIGN: 0113 245 4786.
For 15 years the WSC has provided regular briefings, bachground
information and video footage about Western Sahara.
[Western Sahara
Homepage]
