Washington, June 9, 2013 (SPS) - The President of the Republic and Secretary General of the Polisario Front Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz expected to visit New York on Monday to meet with the Secretary General of the United Nations, his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Mr. Christopher Ross and members of the Security Council.
Secretary General of the Polisario Front said, at the end of his visit to Washington, that this visit aims at sensitizing the United States and United Nations in order to involve them in the efforts to resolve the Saharawi question, not only in terms of peaceful solution but also in improving and protecting human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
He, in this regard, noted to the important role can be played by the U.S. and UN in achieving a progress on the Saharawi question, by encouraging the negotiations, blocked by the Moroccan party for over a year, and accelerating the decolonization in which the Saharawi people can exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, through a referendum.
Concerning his talks with officials of the U.S. State Department, SADR President described as “very important” this meeting.
He, therefore, indicated that in his discussions with U.S. Department of State officials and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, from both Republican and Democratic parties, they have expressed a “firm support” to efforts of the UN and Christopher Ross to advance the process of negotiations between the two parties to the conflict (the Polisario Front and Morocco).
President Mohamed Abdelaziz expressed “optimism” for the results of his visit to Washington, during which he met with officials of the U.S. Department of State, representatives of Congress and human rights organizations.
“The U.S. officials we met with were very receptive to our message on the Western Sahara issue and we are optimistic about the outcomes of our visit to Washington,” the President of the Republic told reporters on Saturday at the end of his four-day visit to the capital of the United States, Washington.
Moreover, the issue of Saharawi human rights was at the heart of U.S. officials concern, given that the U.S. Congress had adopted in 2011 a law conditioning any U.S. military assistance to Morocco by the respect for human rights in Western Sahara.
This law states that before granting such funding, the State Department should submit a report on the situation of human rights in Western Sahara to the Congress.
Regarding the recent appointment of Samantha Power, fervent human rights defender, by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. ambassador to the UN, the President of the Republic told reporters that he received with much “optimism” this appointment and that of his predecessor, Susan Rice, to the post of White House National Security Adviser.
On April, Ms. Rice, in her capacity as the U.S. Representative to the UN, submitted to the Security Council a draft resolution for the introduction of a human rights monitoring mechanism within the mandate of MINURSO (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), but this draft resolution was blocked by some members, despite the concern expressed on this subject by the U.S. State Department, several international organizations that advocate human rights and the UN.
President Mohamed Abdelaziz, moreover, took the opportunity of his visit to Washington to reiterate appreciation to the U.S. officials for the U.S. initiative, which, he said, was a major contribution to the efforts of international institutions and organizations to end the grave violations of human rights that Morocco perpetuates in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
Western Sahara has been registered since 1964 in the list of the Non-Self Governing Territories eligible for the application of the Resolution 1514 of the UN General Assembly of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
It is the last colony in Africa and occupied by Morocco, supported by France, since 1975. (SPS)
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