London hosts meeting over sahara issue
Morocco, Politics, 6/28/2000

A Moroccan official delegation is taking part this Wednesday in a meeting over the Sahara, convened by UN secretary general's personal envoy, James Baker.

The Moroccan delegation, led by ministers of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, and of the interior, Ahmed El Midaoui, comprises Ahmed Snoussi, Morocco's permanent delegate to the United Nations, Mohamed Loulichki, Morocco's coordinator with MINURSO -UN mission supervising the holding of a referendum in the Sahara and other officials.

The meeting, the second of the kind held this year in London, will try to salvage the UN Settlement process that provides for the holding of a referendum in which populations of the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975, would say whether they want the Sahara to remain Moroccan territory or stand up on its own as claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists. The first meeting was held last May 14.

In Rabat, chairmen of all political parties represented in the house of representatives renewed on Tuesday Morocco's attachment to its southern provinces and insisted all persons of Sahrawi descent have the right to take part in the voting that the world body is projecting to hold.

Moroccan newspapers this Wednesday devote large comments and editorials to the London meeting destined to re-launch the implementation of the UN settlement plan.

"Al Bayane" daily of the Party for progress and socialism (PPS/former communist party) notes that Algeria, which is together with Mauritania invited to the conference in their capacity as observers, still denies Morocco its historical right to perfect territorial integrity. The daily goes on that Algeria is the one that offers backing to the separatist movement that it is using to serve its regional expansion policy. The daily argues that times have changed and that the old east-west conflict does no longer have any raison d'etre.

On its part "L'Opinion" daily of the nationalist Istiqlal party (PI) writes that while Algeria pretends it is only attending the conference as an observer, it is no secret that it is actually a party to the issue as it is the country behind the tension in the Maghreb region. L'Opinion also explains that the whole issue finds its reason in leadership and hegemony attempts at the time of cold war and of ideological and strategic alliances.

The editorialist calls Algeria to meditate on the wave of recognition withdrawals by several countries of the Polisario self-proclaimed SADR and to draw lessons.

For "Le Matin du Sahara et Du Maghreb," Morocco, which has been relentlessly giving signs of good will and respecting the UN settlement plan, agrees with the UN will to speed up the holding of the referendum. Unfortunately, the daily goes on, there is deliberate attempts by the "Polisario" to prevent the MINURSO from registering Moroccan Sahrawis as voters in the referendum.

In London, Morocco will reiterate the same demand that the referendum cannot be held as long as the identification of Moroccan Sahrawis, both those living in Morocco and those sequestered in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps, is not settled.

"Al Mounaataf," daily of the Democratic Forces Front (FFD), notes that the settlement plan was interrupted due to the attitude of enemies of Morocco's territorial integrity who persist in sabotaging the identification process by seeking to exclude thousands of Sahrawis from the voter lists. Morocco refuses these practices which run counter to the UN settlement plan in the Sahara, says the daily which also insists that the referendum will not be held as long as all Sahrawis are not accepted as voters.

The daily also underscores Moroccans' unanimity over the need to include all Sahrawis in the voter list.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco lauds as wise India's decision to withdraw recognition of polisario republic   (6/27/2000)
  Budget of UN mission for Sahara amounts to $ 50 million for coming fiscal year   (6/17/2000)
  Portuguese ambassador stresses Moroccan identity of southern provinces inhabitants   (6/16/2000)

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