Washington D.C. (USA) 20 August 2019 (SPS)- Polisario Front’s Representative to Australia and New Zealand, Mr. Kamal Fadel, considered in an opinion published yesterday on the Wall Street Journal, that maintaining the status quo in Western Sahara, as Morocco wishes, is dangerous to the region and costly to the UN and the US and the international community at large.
Answering Dion Nissenbaum’s article and video package on Western Sahara (“Dormant War Draws U.S. Spotlight,” published last August 12th on Wall Street Journal, Kamal drew the attention that “reading the article one might think that maintaining the status quo was the best option available for the question of Western Sahara. This is an idea that Morocco has been tirelessly lobbying for but it’s a dangerous option not only for Western Sahara but for the whole region. It’s also a costly one for the UN and for that matter the USA.”
He warned that “the patience of the Saharawi people is running out,” recalling that “Morocco has failed to win the hearts and minds of Saharawis during 44 years of occupation.”
He estimated that the false claims propagated by the article of Dion Nissenbaum are misleading, considering that the Saharawi people should instead “be allowed to decide their future in a referendum,” because, “any ill-conceived or half-baked solution could stoke discontent and lead to the renewal of hostilities”.
He also accused Morocco of “using the fear card to maintain and illegal occupation of Africa’s last colony.”
In further statement to Saharawi Medias, Mr. Kamal explained that “the allegation that the Islamic State or al Qaeda are lurking for an opportunity to have a presence in Western Sahara is baseless and an insult to one’s intelligence. “
He rather believes that “finding a speedy just and lasting solution to the question of Western Sahara would contribute to stability in the region and ward off any threats to world peace.”
090/500/60 (SPS)