Smara(Saharawi Refugee Camps) February 23, 2016 (SPS)-Some 500 participants from about twenty countries are expected to take part Tuesday in the 16th Sahara-Marathon, the event's organizing committee said Monday.
The sporting event is part of the celebration programme marking the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on 27 February 1976, the Saharawi minister of Youth and Sports, Ahmed Lahbib Abdi, told reporters.
A total of 120 Algerian participants will take part in this sports and solidarity event which, in addition, will bring together runners from Spain, Italy, France, China, Sweden, United States, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Tunisia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, the Netherlands and Cuba.
The Saharawi minister said the large number of participants, coming from various parts of the world, is in itself a big support to the Saharawi people who live a difficult situation for forty years because of Morocco's intransigence, in defiance of the international law and UN resolutions while Western Sahara people are only asking for their right to self-determination.
This year's marathon is distinguished by the fact that it is part of the international campaign for the holding of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.
it is also distinguished by the participation of a large number of groups from European countries. SPS
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