February 2014

AGHOUINIT (Liberated Territories) , February 8, 2014 (SPS) - Saharawi people are "resolutely" determined to win their independence from Morocco’s colonial rule, which "has despoiled their land and has been taking advantage" from their resources since 1975, said Polisario Front’s secretary general, Mohamed Abdelaziz.

"We are struggling on two fronts, including negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations to hold a free and democratic referendum for Saharawi people," Abdelaziz said.

 Pretoria, February 8, 2014 (SPS) - The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Mr.Marius Fransman, reiterated Thursday his country's support  for the self-determination of the Saharawi people, calling for  the decolonization of Western Sahara.

Tiznit (Morocco) February 7, 2014 (SPS) - Sahrawi political prisoners in the Moroccan prison of Tiznit has decided to go on hunger strike for 24 hours starting from Friday to warn against the inhumane practices perpetrated against them by the prison administration, according to the Ministry the Occupied Territories and Community Abroad .

Tiznit (Morocco) February 7, 2014 (SPS) - The Moroccan occupation authorities released Friday morning Saharawi political prisoners Babeya Behdash, Hamza Bazy and Auhsain Mustafa, according to the Ministry of the Occupied Territories and Communy Abroad .

Their release comes after serving unfair sentences of six months in the Moroccan prisons of Ait Meloul and Tiznit, the same source added.

Chahid Al Hafed (refugee camps), Feb 6, 2014 (SPS) - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Western Sahara and Head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) Mr. Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber has held in the Saharawi refugee camps several talks with the Saharawi authorities.


The UN Special Representative received in this regard by Mr. Mhamed Khaddad, Saharawi Coordinator with the MINURSO.

Washington, Feb 6, 2014 (SPS) - At the invitation of the U.S. Congress, the Saharawi Minister Delegate for Asia Mr. Mouloud Said has taken part at the National Breakfast, held in Washington D.C. on the first Thursday of
February each year.


The Breakfast has been presided over by the U.S. President Mr. Barack Obama.
It was an opportunity for the Saharawi official to meet the international guests, as to share with them information about the struggle of the Sahrawi people.

Harare, Jan 6, 2014 (SPS) - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe H.E. Mr. Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has urged Morocco to comply with international will by accepeting the democratic solution which provides for the inalienable right of the Saharawis people to self-determination, reaffirming Zimbabwean government’s firm support to the Saharawi cause.

Agweinit (liberated territories), Jan 6, 2014 (SPS) - Speaker of the Saharawi National Council (Parliament) and Head of Polisario Front’s delegation to the negotiations with Morocco Mr. Khatri Addouh revealed Wednesday that the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, expected again in the region in late February to prepare for a new round of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco.

Nairobi, Jan 6, 2014 (SPS) - An embassy for the Saharawi Republic (SADR) in Kenya opened today, Thursday, in the presence of the Saharawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek.


The opening ceremony was held at Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi in the presence of Kenyan authorities and civil society representatives, in addition to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Nairobi.

El Aaiun (occupied territories), Jan 5, 2014 (SPS) - Two young Sahaarwis were attacked in Maatala Street in occupied El Aaiun, capital of Western Sahara, by a Moroccan police patrol, when they were due to escort a foreign delegation.


Moustafa Al-Douih and Bachir Boumoud were severly beaten and assaulted by Moroccan policemen, after they accompanied a delegation of the Swedish Association of solisarity with the Saharawi people.

Harare, Jan 5, 2014 (SPS) - Ambassador of the Saharawi Republic Mr. Deich Mohamed Saleh has been received Monday in Harare by Mrs. Edna Madzongwe, president of the Senate, and Jacob Francis Mudenda, speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, a source from the Saharawi embassy told SPS.

Oslo, Jan 5, 2014 (SPS) - The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has launched the report “Occupied Country, displaced people” on the Saharawi refugees, who have been forced by Moroccan invasion to flee their homeland in 1975.


The report, which examines details of many aspects of the lives of Sahrawi refugee, is an updated version of a report with the same title released in 2008.


In the new version special attention is given to recent developments in the human rights situation in Western Sahara.

Algiers, Jan 5, 2014 (SPS) - The Security Council must add a human rights monitoring mechanism to the MINURSO mission (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) for 2014, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Kerry Kennedy stressed.

Agweinit (liberated territories), Jan 5, 2014 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente Polisario Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz has indicated that the Moroccan regime, which is the main source of drugs, poses the greatest threat to stability in the Sahel region.

Addis Ababa, Jan 4, 2014 (SPS) - The Permanent Representative of the Saharawi Republic (SADR) to the African Union (AU) Mr. Lamine Baali has highlighted that the 22nd African Union Summit, lately convened in Addis Ababa, was a "harsh blow" to the Moroccan thesis, adding that SADR presence within the AU "has further consolidated."

Paris, Jan 04, 2014 (SPS) - The Spokesman of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Romain Nadal has indicated that his country (France) supports the efforts undertaken by the UN Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, to resolve the conflict of Western Sahara.


“We support the efforts of Mr. Christopher Ross and maintain a regular dialogue with him as with the major stakeholders,” said Mr. Nadal, during a press briefing on Monday.

 Addis Ababa, February 3, 2014 (SPS ) - The AU Peace and Security Council has stressed the need of the African Union and its institutions to engage actively in the efforts for the decolonization of Western Sahara and enabling its people to exercise their right to self-determination.

Guelemim (Morocco), February 2, 2014 (SPS) - Five Saharawi human rights activists have been arrested Friday evening in the town of Guelmim, in the south of Morocco, while on a visit to the family of Saharawi activist Mbarek Daoudi, incarcerated in the prison of Sale since November.