Moroccan party calls for release of persons sequestered in Tindouf

The Moroccan Party for Justice and development (PJD) on Saturday called human rights organizations to coordinate action to speed up the release of persons sequestered in polisario-controlled camps in Tindouf (south-western Algeria).

In an address during the PJD second regional congress held in Laayoune, southern Morocco, over the weekend, the party's regional secretary, Abderrahim Boumya, stressed the need to mobilize all the components of the civil society to conduct information campaigns and actions to explain to international organizations and to world governments and peoples the cause of the Moroccan nationals who are forcibly detained in sequestration camps by the polisario as well as the fairness of the issue of Morocco's territorial integrity.

The Algerian-backed polisario is claiming the independence of the Sahara, a Moroccan southern territory retrieved by Morocco from Spanish rule in 1975 under the Madrid accords.

The PJD regional secretary, who deplored the stagnation in the construction of the Arab Maghreb Union, called Algeria to show wisdom and uphold the supreme interests of the people of the Maghreb region.

He also called for the holding of an international congress on terrorism to define the notion of terrorism, ponder on the causes of the phenomenon and explore the best ways to eradicate it.

The two-day regional congress discussed political reforms in Morocco, the consolidation of the democratic process and the coming legislative elections scheduled for the fall of 2002.