Moroccan Southern authorities brief US congress staffers on Sahara issue

A visiting delegation of US congress staffers was briefed, in Laayoune Thursday, by local authorities on the Sahara issue and on economic and social achievements in the Southern provinces of Morocco.

The Wali (governor) of Laayoune, Mohamed Rherrabi, highlighted the important infrastructures of the province, recalling the projects to be carried out in the framework of the 2004-2008 development program set up by the southern provinces development agency.

The governor in charge of coordinating with the MINURSO (French acronym for the United Nations Mission for a referendum in the Sahara), Hamid Chabar, presented the developments of the issue of the Moroccan territorial integrity, and stressed the legitimate right of the North African Kingdom and its sovereignty over the retrieved southern provinces (Sahara).

The Moroccan official also deplored the Algerian-backed polisario separatists' efforts to foil any attempts to sort out the artificial problem of the Sahara despite the sufferings of the Moroccans sequestered in Tindouf camps, South-West Algeria.

Chabar also underlined the need to allow the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to carry out a precise census of the sequestered Moroccans in Tindouf camps and to investigate embezzlements of the humanitarian aids sent to these people.

The US congress staffers also heard explanations about the reforms adopted by Morocco to consolidate the principle of decentralization and the regional dimension in order to serve development and promote investment.