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Tokyo, July 17, 2014 (SPS) - Four Japanese senators and members of parliament have voiced their support to the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence, regretting for the fact that Western Sahara problem is still left unsolved for more than 39 years.


In four separate letters sent to the Saharawi people, obtained Thursday by SPS, the Japanese senators and parliamentarians called on the government of their country to work in favour of freeing the last colony in Africa, which is Western Sahara.

London, July 16, 2014 (SPS) - The London-based international news channel “VICE News” has started as from Monday the broadcasting of a series of five documentaries about the forgotten conflict of Western Sahara, entitled “the Sahara’s Forgotten War.”


VICE News travels to Western Sahara’s occupied and liberated territories, as well as the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria, to find out more about the conflict of Western Sahara, one of the world’s least-reported conflicts.

Tokyo, July 17, 2014 (SPS) - Former Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, has asked the government of his country to support “more strongly” the efforts undertaken by the United Nations in Western Sahara, demanding a “quick implementation” of the self-determination referendum of the Saharawi people.


In a letter obtained Thursday by SPS, Mr. Hatoyama called on Japan to denounce the violations of human rights being carried out by Morocco in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

Chahid Al hafed (refugee camps), July 16, 2014 (SPS) - President of the Republic, secretary General of the Polisario Front Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz received Wednesday Mr. Mr. Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber of Germany, special representative of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara and Head of MINURSO, who is in a farewell visit to the Saharawi refugee camps from Tuesday.

Ezulwini (Swaziland), July 16, 2014 (SPS) - The Saharawi Republic (SADR) takes part to the work of the 7th conference of the African Ministers in charge of integration, convened in the city of Ezulwini, Swaziland, from 14th until 18th July 2014.


The conference focuses on the infrastructure and integration Africa.


The SADR is represented at the meeting by Mr. Lamine Baali, ambassador in Ethiopia and permanent representative to the African Union (AU).

London, July 16, 2014 (SPS) - The UK human rights charity “Sandblast” on Sunday organized a ceremony to launch its annual awareness event “Run the Sahara” to raise funding for the 15th edition of Sahara Marathon, held in the Saharawi refugee camps in February each year.


Held under theme “recruit 40 runners, one for each year of exile”, the ceremony was attended by a number of sympathizers and people interested in the Saharawi cause, of which the well-known BBC journalists Robin Denselow and Laura Cathery.

Nairobi, July 16, 2014 (SPS) - Ambassador of the Saharawi Republic (SADR) in Kenya Mr. Abba Almud presented Tuesday a lecture about the decolonization and the latest developments of the question of Western Sahara at the University of Nairobi, said a statement issued by SADE embassy in Nairobi.

Chahid Al Hafed (refugee camps), July 16, 2014 (SPS) - The Union of Saharawi Journalists and Writers (UPES) organized Tuesday a sit-in at the headquarters of the Saharawi Television (RSDTV) to show solidarity with the Saharawi journalist and blogger Mahmoud Al-Haissen, who has been detained by Moroccan occupying forces on 4th July 2014.


The sit-in was attended by the Saharawi journalists, cadres in the Polisario Front and the state, in addition to of civil society representatives.

Chahid Al Hafed (refugee camps), July 15, 2014 (SPS) - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara and Head of MINURSO Mr. Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber of Germany will pay Tuesday a farewell visit to the Saharawi refugee camps, where he met with senior Saharawi officials.

Canary Islands (Spain), July 14, 2014 (SPS) -The Parliament of the Canary Islands affirmed its full support to the Western Sahara cause and the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, a representative of the Polisario Front in the Canary Islands, Hamdi Mansour said.

El Aaiun (occupied territories), July 14, 2014 (SPS) - Moroccan occupying army on Saturday assassinated the Saharawi citizen, Brahim Badda Ould Taher, near Oum Draiga region in occupied Western Sahara, said member of the victim’s family.


According to the source, Brahim Badda was shot dead by units of the Moroccan occupying army using live bullets.


Moroccan occupying army tried to hide the corpse of the Saharawi citizen by dumping it 150 km from the place of the crime, the same source said.

Algiers, July 13, 2014 (SPS) - President of the Consultative National Commission for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH) lawyer Farouk Ksentini criticized Saturday, in Algiers, the comments made recently by Moroccan Foreign Minister about African Union's designation of special envoy to Western Sahara, and in which he cited Algeria.

"Those remarks are in line with Morocco's offensive policy whenever the Polisario Front makes an achievement or a step forward," Ksentini said.

Algiers, July 13, 2014 (SPS) - The "offensive" remarks made by a member of Moroccan government against Algeria constitute an "abuse" and denote a "nervousness that ill befits the relations between the two brother and neighbouring countries," the spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdelaziz Benali Cherif,said Saturday.

Madrid, July 11, 2014 (SPS) - Amnesty International (AI) has asked the new king of Spain, Felipe VI, in a letter addressed during his official visit to Morocco, scheduled for July 14 and 15, questions related to the protection of human rights in that country, said the Spanish electronic journal "elEconomista".

  Birlehlu July 12, 2014 (SPS) - Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould salek refuted the Moroccan Foreign Minister’s allegations that the task of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara is to maintain the cease-fire during his recent speech before the foreign committee in the Moroccan parliament , in a statement Friday.

Seville (Spain), July 11, 2014 (SPS) - A peace demonstration was recently held in the city of Seville (Spain), under the slogan "Andalusia asks Morocco to release Saharawi political prisoners and ensure freedom and independence for the Western Sahara".

Rome, July 10, 2014 (SPS) - Member of the Italian Senate Mr. Stefano Vaccari has called on the government of his country to contribute in permitting the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination and independence, emphasizing the need to respect human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), July 10, 2014 (SPS) - Speaker of the Saharawi National Council (Parliament) Mr. Khatri Addouh met yesterday, Wednesday, with the President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, Mr. Paulino Rivero.


During the meeting, Mr. Addouh, also head of the Polisario Front’s delegation to the negotiations with Morocco, conveyed Saharawi President’s sincere greetings to Mr. Rivero.

Seville (Andalusia), July 9, 2014 (SPS) - The 19th edition of March for Peace in Western Sahara was held Saturday at Encarnación Square in Seville, Andalusia, to call for the independence of Western Sahara and release of Saharawi political prisoners languishing in Moroccan jails.

New York, July 9, 2014 (SPS) - The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Moroccan authorities to drop the charges against the Saharawi journalist and blogger Mahmud El-Haissan.


“Journalists should never be subject to retaliation for coverage of sensitive topics,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, in a statement issued Tuesday, calling on the Moroccan authorities to “immediately” release the Saharawi journalist Mahmud El-Haissan.