Sahrawi tribes call for lifting siege on populations sequestered inTtindouf

The Shioukh (notables) of the Moroccan southern provinces of Smara, Laayoune, Boujdour and Oued Eddahab, and youth representatives of several Sahrawi tribes have called international organizations and human rights associations to make moves to lift the siege imposed on the populations sequestered in the polisario-controlled camps in Tindouf, South-Western Algeria, and put an end to the sufferings of these populations.

The call was launched at a ceremony held in Smara Friday to celebrate the return to Morocco of Sheikh Ali Bouhali H'nini, 76, who succeeded in fleeing the camps and returning home.

Several people took the floor during the ceremony to renew determination to remain united and foil any separatist maneuver or plot against Morocco's territorial integrity.

The Moroccan identity of the Sahara is an irreversible reality, they insisted, renewing their attachment to the defense of Morocco's unity and territorial integrity.

They denounced the maneuvers of the polisario- an Algerian-backed guerilla movement claiming the independence of the Sahara- to maintain the statu-quo and use the sequestered populations to get international assistance that it embezzles and called for further efforts on the part of the international community and human rights activists to put an end to the plight of the sequestered populations and enable them return home.

Sheikh Bouhali had renewed upon return to Morocco last December allegiance to King Mohammed VI.