Western Sahara conflict

[Al-khiyal]

The Centre for American Progress (CAP) hosted a May 10th seminar on the Western Sahara conflict to discuss prospects for settlement in light of the Moroccan and Polisario Front initiatives and the latest UN Security Council Resolution.

Participants in the seminar agreed that the Western Sahara conflict is highly complex, and unlikely to be solved through either of two new initiatives submitted by Morocco and the Polisario Front to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Participants ascribed the conflict’s more than 30-year duration to all parties’ refusal to compromise, despite efforts at mediation initiated by individual states and the United Nations. They also noted the failure of the cease-fire agreement and subsequent deployment of MINURSO forces to the region in September 1991.

According to Rob Malley, Middle East and North Africa Program Director for the International Crisis Group, there are two competing processes underway to solve the conflict. One is the UN programme for democratic referendum, in the interest of the people’s right to self-determination. The other seeks direct trilateral negotiations, without preconditions, between Morocco, the Polisario Front and Algeria, under the auspices of the UN. "Morocco will have to improve its autonomy plan in ways that meet Algeria's interests to some extent, and the Polisario's principles to some extent," said Malley, continuing that "the Polisario will have to improve its proposal in order to meet Rabat's absolute red line, which is the stability and the sustainability of its country."

Claude Salhani, international editor for United Press International, emphasized the need to first repair Moroccan-Algerian relations, which have been strained since the French colonial period and exacerbated by the complexity of the Western Sahara issue. He said, "I believe the key to this crisis, if there is one, [is] Algeria, who can not only facilitate things, but can stop pushing the Polisario in a certain direction. Morocco and Algeria… [need] to iron out all the problems that preceded the Western Sahara conflict, and then get to the issue of Western Sahara, otherwise I think we will just continue to run around in circles."

Middle East and conflict expert Ian Lesser said that the United States and Europe, which possess economic and strategic interests in North Africa, should use their position to co-operate in solving the crisis. He ventured that such initiatives will facilitate co-operative relations between the states of North Africa. "One of the options is for the United States and Europe to make it clear that inaction … has its costs," he said, "both in terms of opportunity and in terms of conditionality of aid and investment [and] security assistance."

Malley called the current UN proposal a "model of inconsistency", that "repeats the principal of self-determination on the one hand, while giving a nod to the Moroccan proposal for autonomy on the other." He went on to say the UN "wants the parties to negotiate without preconditions, although it just set two semi-preconditions".

According to Malley, the two-month negotiation period set by the UN is insufficient to solve a conflict of more than thirty years. The United States has announced its readiness to facilitate talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front, with the participation of Algeria and Spain, as the government of Madrid has expressed its willingness to host the negotiations.

The Centre for American Progress is a progressive think tank based in Washington, DC.

Seminar reveals complexity of Western Sahara conflict

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, May 31 (Reuters) - Failure to break the long deadlock over Western Sahara in peace talks starting next month could destabilise north Africa and reignite Polisario's armed struggle, the independence movement's leader said on Thursday.

Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz told Reuters the movement was under "tremendous pressure" to get results from its supporters who were frustrated at Morocco's refusal to let them vote in a referendum on self determination.

"We prefer a peaceful solution ... but if they close all avenues and they persist in trying to impose a fait acompli we will try to use all means to defend ourselves," Abdelaziz said.

Morocco and Polisario are expected to hold U.N.-sponsored talks in June to try to negotiate an end to Africa's oldest territorial dispute by settling the status of the former Spanish colony, annexed by Morocco after Madrid pulled out in 1975.

Morocco wants talks about self-rule for the territory under Moroccan sovereignty, but Algeria-backed Polisario has demanded a referendum that would include the option of full independence.

Abdelaziz, who is also president of the self-proclaimed government in exile for Western Sahara, said he expected the talks to start at the United Nations on June 18.

In a peace proposal submitted to the United Nations in April, Polisario said it was ready to negotiate with Morocco on ways to hold a vote that would offer a choice between independence, integration into Morocco and self-governance.

He added: "If Morocco respects this decision and demonstrates a political will on the next round of negotiations I think we can say real options for peace are there."

"But if they continue in their intransigent attitude and lack of will demonstrated since the death of King Hassan II, I think they are pushing us back to square one and pushing the entire region to square one. That could open the entire region to any kind of danger including the armed struggle."

Morocco, claiming centuries-old rights over the territory, annexed it in 1975 when Spain withdrew, triggering a low-level guerrilla war with the Polisario.

A U.N. ceasefire agreement in 1991 promised a referendum on the fate of the territory, but it never took place and Rabat now rules it out, saying autonomy is the most it will offer.

No country recognises Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Many countries have extended ties to Polisario and recognise its claim to a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Morocco says independence is not possible because Sahrawis are scattered across Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Morocco.

The United States has become impatient for a deal in hopes it will bring more cooperation between North African states and help combat terrorist groups in the regions bordering the Sahara.

The Western Sahara dispute is the main cause of tension between Morocco and Algeria, whose land borders, closed in 1994 amid security tensions, remain shut.

Abdelaziz said 16 years after the ceasefire Sahrawis were intensely impatient for the promised vote on self-determination. "It is very difficult for the political leadership to keep convincing them just to wait another year," he said.

Maghreb at risk if Sahara talks fail - Polisario

[Al-khiyal]

UN News Service (New York), June 4, 2007 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited Morocco and the Frente Polisario to talks, along with their neighbours Algeria and Mauritania, later this month in an attempt to resolve the long-standing dispute over the status of Western Sahara.

The talks involving representatives of the two parties and the neighbours will take place "in the proximity of New York" on 18 June, Mr. Ban's spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters today.

Peter van Walsum, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, will conduct direct talks as a first step in the process of negotiations, Ms. Okabe added, noting that Mr. Ban hopes the talks will lead to a mutually agreed political solution to the dispute.

The invitations to the 18 June talks follow a request from the Security Council in its latest resolution on Western Sahara, issued in late April, that Morocco and the Polisario Front enter into negotiations without preconditions.

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been in operation since 1991 monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front and organize the planned referendum on self-determination.

Western Sahara: Disputing parties invited to UN-led talks

[Al-khiyal]

Mardi 5 juin 2007 -- Le Front Polisario a annoncé hier son accord pour entamer des négociations directes avec le Maroc, le 18 juin à New York, sous les auspices des Nations unies. «Le secrétariat national réaffirme la disponibilité du Front Polisario pour la mise en application, de bonne foi, de la résolution 1754, et annonce son acceptation de l’invitation du secrétaire général des Nations unies pour entamer, le 18 juin 2007 à New York, sous les auspices des Nations unies, des négociations directes avec le royaume du Maroc», affirme un communiqué de l’instance sahraouie.

Adoptée par le Conseil de sécurité à la fin du mois d’avril, la résolution 1754 appelait les deux belligérants, le Maroc et le Polisario, à «engager des négociations sans conditions préalables et de bonne foi, en prenant en compte les événements des derniers mois, afin de parvenir à une solution politique, juste, durable et mutuellement acceptable, qui permette d’assurer l’autodétermination du peuple du Sahara occidental».

Conflit du Sahara occidental : Les négociations maroco-sahraouies fixées au 18 juin à New York

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS/RABAT, June 5 (Reuters) - Neither side in Africa's oldest territorial dispute appears ready to compromise in talks starting this month over Western Sahara and break a deadlock blocking a brighter economic future for the Maghreb.

Morocco and independence movement Polisario have agreed to a meeting near New York on June 18-19 but disagree on key matters including exactly what the talks should cover, analysts say.

Morocco, with quiet support from France, Spain and some U.S. officials, says the discussions should be limited to how to provide self-rule for the territory under Moroccan sovereignty.

But Polisario, backed by many African countries including heavyweights South Africa and Algeria, says negotiations should be about how to hold a referendum among Sahrawis on self-determination.

"The likelihood of either side making a fundamental concession - just to get talks started - is nil," wrote Jacob Mundy, a Western Sahara specialist at Britain's University of Exeter.

"An honest appraisal of the situation reveals that the parties' thinking is still war-like; neither Morocco nor Polisario yet believes that total victory is impossible."

The dispute, a pillar of Moroccan-Algerian rivalry, is a big barrier to commerce across the Maghreb region of 80 million people stretching from Mauritania to Libya and makes it unlikely the region will achieve its goal of a free trade area by 2010.

The first direct official talks for years between Morocco and Polisario are intended as a first step in negotiating a settlement of the status of the former Spanish colony of 260,000 people, annexed by Morocco after Madrid pulled out in 1975.

Morocco's move set off a guerrilla war with the Polisario. A U.N. cease-fire agreement in 1991 promised a referendum on the fate of the territory, but it never took place and Rabat now rules it out, saying autonomy is the most it will offer.

No country recognises Moroccan rule over the territory, which has phosphates, fisheries and potentially oil, but Rabat is confident its traditional role as the West's main ally in north Africa gives it the diplomatic edge.

"Morocco feels they have more support than the Polisario and want the negotiations to extend the momentum of that support," a senior European diplomat said.

"Rabat sees the diplomatic balance ticking over nicely to its side with Spain standing closer to Morocco than Polisario. The U.S. is joining France's support of Rabat," he said.

Rabat's plan would offer elections to a regional parliament which would choose a head of government and cabinet. But Rabat would keep control of national security, defence, foreign relations, the currency and the "Kingdom's juridical order".

Polisario has ample support in Africa, where many countries tend to see Western Sahara as the continent's last colony. An estimated 158,800 Sahrawi refugees are living in camps in the Algerian desert where malnutrition is widespread.

The movement wants to negotiate with Morocco on ways to hold a referendum that would offer a choice between independence, integration into Morocco and self-governance.

Both sides say they are now ready to talk in good faith, raising some hope of progress: The peace process has stagnated since U.N. envoy James Baker left in 2004 after a referendum plan he proposed came to nothing.

But analysts say that in reality neither side seems in the mood to do a deal.

"Morocco and Polisario have conflicting views and expectations from the negotiations," said Nadir el Moumni, a political analyst in Rabat.

Rabat wanted a consensus on a solution that emerges from within its autonomy proposal, while Polisario wants the negotiations to be crowned by a referendum on self-determination that it is sure would bring about independence, he said.

"If each side insists on its fundamental demands from the beginning, the negotiations will bear no fruit, and if the talks were to continue in such a context it is because no party wants to be the first to get blamed by the international community for their failure," he added.

Independence would be seen as an unpardonable climbdown for many in Morocco, where the "Green March" of 1975 is commemorated with a public holiday. An image of the marchers adorns bank notes, topped by a dove with a copy of the Qur'an in its beak.

Anything less than independence could aggravate a two-year-old wave of unrest in the territory that Polisario says has shaken Moroccan confidence in its control.

Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz told Reuters on June 1 that failure to break the deadlock could destabilise north Africa and reignite Polisario's armed struggle.

"A cloud of frustration is covering the region," he said.

Analysis: Chances slim for Western Sahara breakthrough

[Al-khiyal]

Mercredi 6 Juin 2007 -- A treize jours du début des négociations directes entre le Front Polisario et les autorités marocaines aux Etats-Unis, sur invitation du secrétaire général des Nations unies, M. Ban Ki-moon, le chef de l’Etat n’a pas raté l’occasion de réaffirmer la position algérienne vis-à-vis de ce conflit, lors d’un toast prononcé à l’occasion du déjeuner officiel offert en l’honneur du président du Nicaragua, M. Daniel Ortega.

Faisant remarquer que les positions de l’Algérie et du Nicaragua «se rejoignent complètement en ce qui concerne la promotion des objectifs et des principes des Nations unies ainsi que pour la protection des droits de l’Homme dans leur indivisibilité et leur universalité», Abdelaziz Bouteflika soulignera que ces principes motivent «notre action en faveur d’une autodétermination authentique du peuple du Sahara occidental, dans la stricte conformité à la légalité internationale». La résolution 1754 adoptée le 30 avril dernier par le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, qui préconise des négociations directes «sans conditions préalables» entre le Maroc et le Polisario permettra, selon le chef de l’Etat, «aux deux parties de sortir de l’immobilisme actuel». «Nous espérons que ces négociations aboutiront à une solution satisfaisante respectant le droit à l’autodétermination du peuple sahraoui», a-t-il ajouté.

Le président de la République expliquera dans ce sillage, que le problème du Sahara occidental représente un des obstacles empêchant le processus de l’édification du Maghreb qui conditionne l’avenir de toute la région. «Le problème du Sahara occidental représente un facteur de blocage du processus de l’édification du Maghreb qui conditionne l’avenir de toute notre région», soutient le chef de l’Etat tout en affirmant qu’«il devient de plus en plus certain que cet ensemble ne saurait être réalisé au détriment du peuple sahraoui et de ses droits légitimes et inaliénables». Le président Bouteflika n’a pas manqué de saluer, à cette occasion, la décision prise par le président Ortega, dès le lendemain de son investiture, de rétablir les relations diplomatiques entre la République du Nicaragua et la République arabe sahraouie démocratique. «C’est une décision juste et courageuse qui aura sûrement un effet favorable sur l’évolution de la situation dans cette région», a-t-il affirmé.

Rappelons que l’’ONU a confirmé lundi dernier que les négociations sous ses auspices entre le Maroc et le Front Polisario sur le Sahara occidental commenceront le 18 juin, précisant qu’elles auraient lieu aux Etats-Unis près de New York. M. Ban Ki-moon, «a invité les parties, c’est-à-dire le Maroc et le Front Polisario, ainsi que les pays voisins, l’Algérie et la Mauritanie, à participer à une réunion dans la région de New York à cette date», a déclaré à la presse une porte-parole de l’ONU, Marie Okabe.

Réitérant le droit du peuple sahraoui à l'autodétermination, Bouteflika affirme :
«Le problème du Sahara occidental bloque l'édification du Maghreb»

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, June 11 (Reuters) - Morocco is cracking down harder than usual on independence activists in Western Sahara raising doubts about peace talks due to start next week, the Polisario independence movement said on Monday.

"Morocco's behaviour may jeopardise the negotiations, as it could also jeopardise peace and stability in the region," Polisario's foreign affairs spokesman Mohamed Salem Ould Salek told a news conference in the Algerian capital.

His comments came as a Polisario-backed Moroccan human rights organisation, called CODESA, accused Morocco of recently arresting and kidnapping a large number of civilians including children in Western Sahara's main city of Laayoune.

There was no immediate comment from Moroccan authorities.

Morocco and Polisario are due to hold U.N.-sponsored talks on June 18-19 to try to negotiate an end to Africa's oldest territorial dispute by setting the status of the former Spanish colony, annexed by Morocco after Madrid pulled out in 1975.

"The talks are going to be a test to see if Morocco is serious about peace in the region," Ould Salek said.

In May Polisario's leader Mohamed Abdelaziz said a failure to break the deadlock could reignite the movement's armed struggle, triggered initially by Morocco's move more than 30 years ago.

A 1991 U.N. ceasefire accord promised a referendum on the territory's fate, but it never happened and Rabat now rules it out, saying autonomy is the most it will offer.

Morocco wants talks about self-rule for the territory under Moroccan sovereignty, but Algeria-backed Polisario has demanded a referendum that would include the option of full independence.

Rights campaigners in Morocco have said that Moroccan police have beaten and imprisoned dozens of independence activists demonstrating on university campuses in recent weeks.

The government has denied that police used excessive force to break up the demonstrations, saying they had intervened each time to separate rival gangs of students.

Ould Salek added that he saw "no positive signals" that Morocco was committed to peace and to talking in good faith.

Ould Salek said Algerian-backed Polisario was approaching the talks in a positive spirit. The movement wants to negotiate with Morocco on ways to hold a referendum that would offer a choice between independence, integration into Morocco and self-governance.

"If we get our independence, we will be more than happy to establish friendly and economic relations with Morocco," Ould Salek said, adding that "doors will then be open for stability and cooperation in the region."

The Western Sahara dispute is the main cause of tension between Morocco and Algeria, whose land borders, closed in 1994 amid security tensions, remain shut.

Sahara talks at risk from Morocco's actions - Polisario