Sit-ins abroad for release of Moroccan detainees in southern Algeria

Moroccan expatriates in London, Paris and Montreal rallied Sunday to call for the release of their fellow countrymen who are detained in the Tindouf camps (southwest Algeria) by the Algeria-backed Polisario front that is claiming the separation of the kingdom's Southern Provinces (known as the Sahara).

Protestors called for the immediate liberation of the Moroccan detainees, exhorting international human rights organizations to work for ending the tragedy of thousands of women, children and men who are sequestered in the camps.

The protests were staged in parallel to a huge march that brought together Sunday tens of thousands of people in the Moroccan capital to denounce the tragedy of Moroccan-Sahara natives being held against their will in Tindouf for nearly three decades now.

Demonstrators also called on the international community to act for the release of Moroccan Prisoners of War who are still held by the Polisario separatists.

"In spite of calls launched by the UN and other international organizations, 408 Moroccan soldiers are still held in captivity in deplorable conditions and in blatant violation of human rights," pointed out the Anglo-Moroccan Alliance for Liberty (AMAL) that organized Sunday a sit-in in London before the British parliament.

Souad Naji, member of the alliance, said petitions will be signed and sent to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and to the UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

In Montreal, members of the Moroccan community in Canada staged a sit-in before the Algerian consulate chanting slogans calling for the release of the Moroccans held in Tindouf, while in Paris, Protestors urged international organizations to examine the fate of thousands of women and children who were deported by the Polisario separatists to remote countries such as Cuba.