Sahara population rejects any settlement out of Moroccan sovereignty

A delegation of Sahrawi women voiced in Berlin Monday the rejection by most Sahrawis of any solution out of Morocco's sovereignty.

The Sahara conflict is opposing Morocco to the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists who claim secession of its southern provinces, known as the Sahara. This former Spanish colony was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords.

During a meeting with deputies of Germany's SPD and 'Green' parties (in government), and CDU (opposition), as well as civil society erpresentatives, Keltoum Khayat, a former Polisario executive, and sociologist Saadani Maoulainine, formerly deported to Cuba, stressed their "rejection of any separatist idea by southern provinces inhabitants and their attachment to their motherland Morocco."

They called Europe to press Algeria accept a peaceful solution that serves the majority of Sahrawis and not a minority, adding that "any solution out of the territorial integrity of Morocco can cause instability in the area."

"Europe must double efforts to achieve a sustainable solution liable to ensure stability in the area and make it possible for the Maghreb to fully play its role of historical partner of the old continent, they went on."

Concerning humans right, Khayat and Maoulainine shed light on the living conditions and exactions undergone by the Moroccans sequestered in the camps of Tindouf, south-western Algeria. In this connection, they quoted the deportation of children to Cuba, which makes it possible for the "Polisario" to hold the parents as hostages.

"As long as the children are in Cuba, usually from 10 to 17 years, the parents can do nothing that displease the Polisario, for fear for their offsprings," they explained.