Nouakchott (Mauritania), Nov 27, 2017 (SPS) - The Minister of State, Adviser at the Saharawi Presidency and Member of Polisario Front's National Secretariat, Bashir Mustapha Sayed, praised Sunday the level of cooperation between Mauritania and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), expressing the determination of the two sides to boost coordination in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime which, he stressed, are real threats to the region.
In an interview to the independent Mauritanian news agency, the minister expressed the satisfaction of the two sides, Mauritania and the Saharawi Republic, with the level of bilateral relations, which are distinguished by a mutual trust and a deep willingness to strengthen them.
Bashir Mustapha Sayed stressed the socio-cultural links between the two peoples and their common destiny, challenges and threats.
He underlined "the high level of cooperation with Mauritania and exchange of information and coordination in the fight against the different threats, including drug trafficking and organized crime groups, which mainly come from Morocco and cross Western Sahara and Mauritania to flood Sahel and North African markets with drugs."
The Saharawi official warned against Morocco's plans to "transform the Mauritanian and Western Sahara territories into transit land for illegal drug."
Morocco's plans, he added, also include the use of the same territories (Mauritania and Western Sahara) as a transit for some terrorist networks in the north of Mali and even Nigeria."
The Saharawi official emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two countries in the field, in order to "curb such risks and foil the schemes of organized crime groups who contribute to Moroccan expansion."
The Saharawi minister mentioned his last visit to Mauritania, in which he met Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz and a number of top political officials to inform them of the latest developments of the Saharawi issue.
He also raised the visit made by UN chief's personal envoy, Horst Kohler, to the region, SADR's attendance of AU-EU Summit meeting and bilateral cooperation."
Bashir Mustapaha Sayed said he noticed "the attachment of Mauritanian people and their president to the sovereignty of their country and a strong determination to put an end to Moroccan interference in Mauritanian affairs."
He also said that Mauritania wants to boost its relations with the neighbouring countries, especially Algeria. (SPS)
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