Sahara issue source of concern to international public opinion, Belgian official
Morocco-Belgium, Politics, 12/16/2004

Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee at the Belgian Senate, Roelants du Vivier Francois, stated on Tuesday that the Sahara issue is a "source of preoccupation to the international public opinion since there has been no final solution" to this issue.

At a meeting with a Moroccan delegation, Francois said the Committee wants to hear Morocco's clarifications on the three decade-long Sahara dispute that is opposing Morocco to the Algeria-backed separatist movement which is claiming the separation of Morocco's southern provinces, known as the Sahara. The former Spanish colony was retrieved by the kingdom in 1975 under the Madrid Accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.

The Moroccan delegation that attended the meeting was notably composed of former Polisario officials and the Moroccan ambassador to Belgium, Mustapha Salahdine, who gave an overview on the historic evolution of the decolonisation process in Morocco since 1956, particularly in the regions occupied by Spain.

He deplored that "an artificial conflict was made up by our neighbors" to hinder Morocco's retrieval of its southern provinces "through the creation of Polisario." The diplomat was alluding to Algeria which has been providing, since 1976, the Polisario separatists with logistic, diplomatic, financial and military assistance.

Evoking the humanitarian aspect of the conflict, the ambassador denounced "the detention (by Polisario) of 412 members of the Royal Armed Forces that have been held captives for over a quarter of a century in contempt of international law and multiple resolutions of the Security Council."

He also expressed concern as to the situation of the populations sequestered in Tindouf camps (southern Algeria). Algeria and the Polisario, he said, "imposed on them the situation of refugees a quarter of a century ago without even making them benefit of the same rights as refugees."

The Moroccan diplomat said Morocco is in favor of a solution to this conflict, provided that it "preserves the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco, and allows populations to manage their local affairs democratically."

The meeting with the president of the foreign relations committee at the Belgian senate also included testimonies of former Polisario officials on human rights violations committed by the separatists in the Tindouf camps.

Mrs Gajmoula, former chairwoman of Polisario Women Association, said she returned to homeland, Morocco, after she became aware of the inanity of the separatist theses. She also expressed concern over the situation that has been lasting in the camps for 29 years.

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