I was shocked when I heard the devastating news of the brutal and cowardly assassination of our brother Lembarki H.S. Mahyub.

The murder of this young man happened just as we mark thirty years of Moroccan occupation and of unrelenting struggle for independence of generations of Saharawis.

This dastardly crime should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Morocco's actions against the cause of peace in Western Sahara. His murder was an act of cowardice that only infamous people of the lowest possible level could ever conceive of performing. Lembarki was as noble as they were infamous. He was as righteous as they were viciously inhuman. Undoubtedly, he was killed because of his political views; for demanding justice and freedom.

This savage act will not bring the Saharawis to their knees as Mohamed VI and his coterie would hope.

A crime that will stop neither the will nor the aspirations of the Saharawi people. Let it be known that the assassination of Lembarki shall just make our efforts even more intense and even more committed to end occupation and would be satisfied with nothing short of full independence.

Lembarki's dream of a New Day in Western Sahara - with its national flag waving in El Aaiun - will come into being, for this event has had the opposite effect sought by those factually and intellectually responsible for the crime: to silence him, once and for all. They should know that they have failed.

Violence can only breed more violence. As a tribute to him, we must rise above the cowardice of the perpetrators to prove that we are made of a different mettle. We must find the courage to bear the great grief which we now feel without seeking to resort to violent retaliation.

Lembarki's death and cowardly assassination will long be remembered. We will not let his sacrifice be forgotten nor his family be ignored. Our struggle will continue and the cause of freedom will prevail.

May he rest in peace.

"Ina lillahi wa ina ialihi raj3oun"