L'Opinion: Belgian ambassador calls for release of Moroccans sequestered in tindouf

Belgian ambassador to Rabat, Christina Funes Noppen, has called for the release of the Moroccans native of the Sahara held against their will in the camps of Tindouf (southwestern Algeria), by the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario."

"Tindouf prisoners must be all released. Belgium support the (European Parliament's) initiative 'Passport for Freedom', Funes Noppen told the Moroccan daily 'L'Opinion', voicing hope that the parties will reach a settlement to the Sahara dispute.

Instituted by French Euro-deputy Alain Madelin, the "Passport for Freedom" is a means to help members of the European parliament voice their solidarity with people fighting for the respect of human rights. It was awarded to Morocco's longest-held serviceman in the Polisario jails, Mimouni Zeggai.

The diplomat, who recently dedicated, alongside Moroccan officials, development projects in Laayoune and Tarfaya, in the framework of direct bilateral cooperation, said her stay in the southern Moroccan cities was an opportunity to meet officials, civil society representatives, and members of the MINURSO (the French acronym for the UN mission for the Sahara).

"The information I have collected are certainly of interest to my government," she said.

Various Western leaders and International organizations are calling for all the prisoners to be freed.