Abuja, June 3, 2015 (SPS) - Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar on Tuesday slammed UN’s failure to complete the decolonization process in Western Sahara, criticizing the attempts by some great powers, in complicity with Moroccan occupation, to thwart the task of the United Nations for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), on the ground since 20 years.
Speaking at the opening of Abuja’s International University Conference on the Western Sahara Decolonization, the Saharawi Prime Minister thanked, on behalf of the President of the Republic Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz and the Saharawi people, Nigerian professors and personalities as well as African and international delegation attending the event.
“The Conference is being held in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest country, which have contributed effectively in the liberation of African peoples. We, in particular, underline the support shown by democratic Nigeria to the Saharawi people at both official and popular levels, and the contribution of civil society to organize various festivities calling for the decolonization of Western Sahara,” stated Saharawi Premier.
He asked the UN to shoulder its responsibilities to carry Morocco to comply with the international will and thus evade the region of tension and instability, adding “it is time to push forward the decolonization process in Western Sahara.”
Concerning the situation of human rights, the Minister demanded a complete lift of siege imposed on the occupied territories of Western Sahara, calling on Morocco to allow access into the territory for international observers.
He, on other hand, reminded Spain, the administering power, of its historical responsibility towards the decolonization of Western Sahara, urging France to stop protecting the Moroccan occupation within the corridors of the UN Security Council.
The conference is organized on June 2-4 in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, by the Academic Staff Union of Universities of Nigeria, in the presence of more than 600 participants coming from countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America. (SPS)
090/089/TRA