Participants in Arab Nationalist Congress in Beirut back Morocco's territorial integrity
Regional, Politics, 3/18/1999

Participants in the 9th Arab Nationalist Congress held in Beirut March 15 - 18 have voiced backing of the territorial integrity of Morocco and denounced any dismembering scheme.

The congress which gathers some 230 intellectuals, writers and newsmen from several Arab states included in its Tuesday agenda a debate on "the Sahara issue and settlement possibilities."

The participants who took the floor during the debate almost unanimously voiced backing for Morocco's territorial integrity and denounced the creation of an independent state in the Saharan province.

"We are against any Sahrawi state," said Abderrahmane Nouaimi from Bahrain, surveying the mishaps that befell the Arab world because of its dismembering. "We must oppose the setting up of any state in the Sahara and side with Morocco's unity," he said.

Echoing him, Tunisian writer and journalist Khalid Chouket called participants to adopt a clear-cut and frank stand preserving Arab interests and rejecting any dismemberment plan to the detriment of Morocco.

"The Sahrawi state that some want to set up is a mere secessionist project," the Tunisian writer said, adding that the Sahara issue is hampering the edification of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).

The UMA, set up in Marrakesh in 1989 and that musters Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, is paralyzed mainly due to strained relations between Morocco and Algeria over Algiers' direct involvement in the Sahara issue and its backing to the Polisario, a separatist movement claiming the sovereignty of the Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords.

The Tunisian writer rejected "any state which does not meet the genuine independence requirements and which is contrary to the ideal of Arab unity and integration." "The Sahara is legally Moroccan and Morocco has the right to perfect its territorial integrity," Khalid Chouket said, calling the congress to adopt "a courageous stand that expresses this Arab nationalists' stand."

In the same vein, Syrian Abdel Majid Manjouna denounced the creation of small entities pointing out that "such entities and the aims of those backing them are a plague in our pan-Arab structure. We should join efforts to strongly oppose such secessionist aims." Lebanese Aouni Farsakh also voiced opposition to such "small states" and expressed backing to the Arab Maghreb unity. "The backing of the creation of more Arab states is a way to annihilate the Arab nation and place it under foreign dominion," said Palestinian Fayez Chakhatra.

The congress is to wind up proceedings this Thursday by the adoption of a final statement.

The Arab nationalist congress seeks, as stipulated by its statutes, to consolidate Arab unity, national independence, democracy, social justice and development throughout the Arab world.

The congress, set up in 1990, held its 7th session in Casablanca in 1997.

Previous Stories:
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