Algiers, May 26, 2012 (SPS) - On the occasion of the commemoration of Africa day coinciding annually with May 25, a stand of solidarity with the Saharawi people organized Friday at the Wilaya of Algeria, in the presence of a number of dignitaries and representatives from civil society, sympathizers from Europe and Africa with and Saharawi delegation from the refugee camps and occupied territories.
Speaking on the occasion, Mayor of Central Algiers Mr. Tayeb Zitouni indicated that the event “adds another dimension to the support to the Saharawi people by expanding the African and international network of solidarity with the Saharawi cause.”
From his part, French Elected Mr. Jean-Paul Lecoq expressed concern about situation of Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories, deploring his country’s position in this direction, considering that this Moroccan-French convergence “should not be at the expense of the Saharawi people.”
In the same regard, representative of Fiorentina called for the need to stand in front of Moroccan occupier until it halted exploitation and looting of Saharawi natural resources, reiterating support to the decision taken by the EU to freeze the fishing agreements with Morocco.
“International community should rapidly act to alleviate suffering of the Saharawi people…freedom of Africans does make no sense as long as there continues a last colony in Africa that is occupied by a state of the same continent,” underlined Mr. Mbulelo Morris, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA), adding “it is time to establish a monitoring committee for an effective solidarity with the Saharawi people.”
Mr. Carmelo RAMÍREZ, president of Spanish Federation of Institutions in solidarity with the Saharawi People (FEDISSAH), denounced the abuses committed against the Saharawi citizens in occupied Western Sahara, calling on the international movement of solidarity with the Saharawi cause to struggle hard in order to put an end to Morocco’s looting of the Western Sahara natural resources.
“Africa Day is an opportunity to recall that there is still a country in Africa suffer under the yoke of colonialism,” underlined President of the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with Sahrawi People (CNASPS), Mr. Mahrez Lamari, calling for the creation of an African citizenship front for democracy and against the return of colonialism to Africa.
He also recalled that the powers of the United Nations and African Union are “to improve the situation in Western Sahara in order to allow the Sahrawi people to enjoy their legitimate and just inalienable right to self-determination.”
At the end of the event, twinning agreements have been signed between Algerian and Saharawi municipalities, which include cultural exchange agreements, delegations as well as experience of the management of municipal and social affairs.
Africa Day is an annual commemoration on May 25 each year, which mark the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, where a number of 30 leaders of the 32 independent African states signed the OAU’s founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (SPS)
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