Tindouf, longest human tragedy in current history, Minister

The name of Tindouf (southern Algeria) is and will remain linked to the longest human tragedy in contemporary history, stated Thursday, the Moroccan Minister of Communication and spokesman of the Government.

Nabil Benabdallah said Morocco will always carry Tindouf in mind, as long as the situation perseveres and Moroccan citizens remain captives in the camps that are controlled by the Algeria-backed Polisario front that claims the separation of Morocco's Southern Provinces, known as the Sahara.

The minister who was speaking at a press briefing held at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting, was answering a question on statements made by the Algerian delegate before the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

In a reaction to a call launched by Morocco to free the remaining 408 Moroccan prisoners of war (POWs) still detained in Tindouf, the Algerian official said, on Tuesday, the Sahara is a decolonization issue and the Moroccan prisoners are held by the Polisario, omitting to say that these detainees are imprisoned on Algerian soil.

Algiers provides military, diplomatic and logistic assistance to the Polisario separatists in their claims concerning the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under Madrid Accords.

"If the countries concerned are keen on preserving their reputation, they should act in a positive way vis-a-vis the resolutions adopted by the United Nations in this question," said Benabdellah who noted that the detention of Moroccans is a breach of the most basic international laws.

He said this issue can only be solved by opening the camps and allowing Moroccan citizens who are sequestered there to return to their home country without blackmail or excuses.

Morocco will defend this cause with resolve until the last Moroccan returns to his homeland, he concluded.