Western Sahara conflict

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS (AFP) - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika asked Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to help settle the dispute in Western Sahara, as the latter paid a flying visit to Algiers.

"We would like Spain to start working more profoundly to bring to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front to agree on the modalities of a free and fair referendum on independence," Bouteflika said.

A referendum should, he said after meeting Zapatero at his palace, "allow the expression of the sovereign free will of the people of Western Sahara and conform to international law."

Morocco has proposed self-government for the Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, rather than a referendum, and a Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs handed a new autonomy project to King Mohammed VI on December 5.

Zapatero said he and Bouteflika had discussed "in depth the key principles" towards a definitive solution.

Morocco claims Western Sahara, a desolate but phosphate-rich northwest African territory, which it annexed after the withdrawal of Spain and Mauritania in the 1970s and settled with around 300,000 Moroccans in the 1975 "Green March."

A bitter guerrilla war with the Polisario Front - who contested Rabat's sovereignty - ended only in 1991 with a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The United Nations had sought since 1992 to organize a referendum on self-determination for the territory, but several attempts, including one in 2003 by former US Secretary of State James Baker, broke down over arguments over who was eligible to vote.

Zapatero and Bouteflika also signed an extradition agreement during the visit. More than 70 Algerian nationals arrested in Spain on suspicion of terrorism could be eligible for extradition to Algeria under the treaty.

Algeria asks Spain to help find Western Sahara solution

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria's Bouteflika urges Spain to press for independence referendum in Western Sahara

[Al-khiyal]

Bouteflika stresses Spain’s responsibility for Western Sahara crisis

[Al-khiyal]

Spain's Prime Minister, José Luis Zapatero, is in Algeria, while his Moroccan counterpart, Idris Gato, is in Paris: two events connected by a coincidence and drawn apart by interests.

As the natural arrangement of spaces, which aims to establish bridges of cooperation between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, takes place, political complexities, led by the conflict over the Saharan issue, emerge.

Algerian President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika asked the Spanish visitor to use his influence over Morocco to return the proposed settlement back to the referendum.

Meanwhile, President Jacques Chirac is urging the Moroccans to speed up the holding of negotiations to add momentum to diplomatic efforts. This means that instead of diverging by virtue of geography and fraternity, dialogue between Algeria and Morocco is converging in the direction of being administered through the Spanish and the French, the conventional power brokers of the North African region.

Between harmony and conflicting interests, the sides involved in the Saharan conflict are trying to prepare for the outcome of the UN Security Council's expected discussion of the issue under the current mandate of the UN Mission for a Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO. Paris and Madrid's tendency to favor one side or the other does not seem very different from trying to seize the reigns of control over the administration of the Sahara desert.

For while the French influence still holds by virtue of France's permanent membership in the UN Security Council, the Spanish influence stems from Madrid's position as the former colonial power in the Saharan region, not to mention the key economic and trade ties with both Morocco and Algeria.

In contrast to former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, who pushed the Spanish-Moroccan relations into a dark tunnel, current Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero managed to normalize positive relations with the Moroccan capital, Rabat, making it highly unlikely for him to overlook such an advantage.

Accordingly, the objective of Zapatero's visit to Algeria is to achieve a consolidation of a delicate balance, so that the visit does not come in the interest of Morocco at the expense of Algeria, or vice versa.

It is the same state of affairs for France, whose relations with Algeria were restored by Chirac, while at the same not losing Morocco, even if it came to the consternation of Algeria over statements by Morocco's ally, who once considered the Sahara as one of the 'southern provinces' of Morocco, which unleashed criticism and calls to reopen the pages of the past.

Both the French and the Spanish adhere to strategies based on principals in their relationship with North African nations. Socialist PM Zapatero succeeded in reshaping the policies of Madrid in the direction of upholding Madrid's European affiliation, in contrast to Aznar's aspirations for a preferential relationship with Washington.

In dealing with the Saharan issue in particular, this shift in policies breathed life into the French-Spanish axis, especially as Madrid was never content with handing over the keys to sponsoring a political settlement of the Saharan conflict to Paris and Washington within the framework solution laid down by the former mediator, James Baker, prior to his abandonment of this file.

The emergence of a common French-Spanish understanding toward the Saharan issue seems likely to remain a top priority, especially in light of international developments that proved the validity of the French approach toward the Iraqi war dilemma, the Middle East crisis, and the American's ambitions in the African arena.

Therefore, it was no coincidence that the UN envoy to the Sahara, Peter van Walsum, was keen on visiting both Madrid and Paris each time he needed a sense of direction.

Both the French and the Spanish are applying increasing pressure toward a speedy settlement of the Saharan conflict, and to this end, they are well aware that the gap created by the slowing down of the drive to reach a settlement will be in the interests of the Americans, who seek to find a foothold in the region.

This is becoming increasingly apparent taking into consideration the fact that notions of political and economic partnership, which was previously exclusive to the European efforts to foster relations with the nations of North Africa, are now becoming the language used by the Americans, as well. Threats to the peace and stability of the Sahel-Saharan countries have also been on the forefront for US analysts.

The only absentees in these arrangements are the nations of North Africa themselves, who are showing little or no concern in face of the looming challenges. The most immediate outcome of such a lack of concern may be seen in the fact that the Saharan conflict continues to simmer today. It was supposed to have been settled 30 years ago through means of dialogue, international legitimacy, and significant mutual compromises, instead of insistence on bringing up scrap issues that were behind exhausting the region and obstructing its march toward building a future.

The deteriorating consequences of the conflict on the region dwarf any hoped for or needed incentives in the direction of the continuation of this conflict: whether in terms of the increasingly deep-rooted relationship of caution and mistrust between Algeria and Morocco, or the diminishing odds for the Moroccan developmental bid, which has become no more than a blurred dream; or in terms of dialogue among the partner nations in the region, characterized by dealing with each of these nations separately and individually.

There is, however, a misconception that whoever emerges a winner from this conflict will have the first and final word in the regional decision-making center of gravity.

The drive toward swaying European capitals, however, contradicts the futuristic perspective of the independence concept of the decision-making process, since until not too long ago, the capitals of North Africa have been resorting to economic and political influence in their attempts to forge a partnership with European allies.

Some of these capitals complied with the conditions on structural reforms and competition standards, while others chose to strip some of these European partners of the privileges of trade monopoly, while others, still, chose to accept demands without even reading them.

However, the concept of interests that develop into competitive partnerships is no longer within the scope of any limited regional nation, as unity has become the only requirement for achieving power.

One thing is being overlooked with regards to this tendency: the goodwill of the French and the Spanish is indeed necessary by virtue of these two countries' roles, significance and leverage.

It would be, however, more feasible for the crisis to be handed over to the UN Security Council, and before that, for the disorder of dialogue between Morocco and Algeria to be smooth, not obstructed by mediators.

Mediated talks between Morocco and Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

Western Sahara: UN General Assembly calls for decolonization

[Al-khiyal]

Rabat/Laayoune/Madrid - In the neighbourhood of Hay Riad in the Moroccan capital Rabat, Mohammed, the son of a Western Saharawi dignitary, and some friends sit around his computer.

The group reads all websites defending the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco, but does not participate in chats.

'Moroccan secret police are constantly logged in,' explains Moussa, one of the young men. 'They post pro-independence comments to gain your confidence and then one day you find them on your doorstep, bringing a host of problems.'

But when Moussa and others like him log in from a cybercafe, they give free rein to their anger at Morocco, inciting to join the independence movement Polisario Front and to resist the Moroccan 'occupation' of their home region.

While Saharawis living outside Western Sahara pursue such campaigns, the mounting protests against Morocco are taking more serious forms in Laayoune, the capital of the desert territory annexed by Rabat after the colonial power Spain withdrew from there in 1975.

Street protests have clearly increased over the past few years, as have police crackdowns, according to observers in Laayoune.

When Moussa was still living in Laayoune, he and his friends used to display Saharawi flags and to stone police patrols, he recalls. 'It is our way of venting our fury against injustice,' he adds.

The United Nations (UN) and international human rights groups have given credibility to reports of arrests, torture and biased trials of Saharawi pro-independence militants, dozens of whom have staged hunger strikes in prison.

Morocco has barred several European delegations from visiting Western Sahara, including members of the European Parliament and Spanish legislators, on the grounds that they comprised disproportionate numbers of Polisario sympathizers.

The police and army are highly visible in Laayoune, and people attending weddings or other ceremonies often find that some family member is absent - in jail or exile, according to local sources.

A police chief in Laayoune, however, says he and his colleagues are only protecting citizens from 'aggressors.' 'We try to avoid clashes with young people at all costs, but sometimes, we have to intervene,' he explains.

The sharpening of the Western Sahara conflict can also be observed on Spain's Canary Islands, where hundreds of Saharawis have landed after a long and dangerous sea journey in the recent months.

Unlike most other undocumented immigrants arriving from Africa, the Saharawis nearly always apply for political asylum, accusing Morocco of using police repression to push pro-independence activists to leave the region.

Moroccan officials in Laayoune dismiss such allegations, stressing Rabat's commitment to the fight against illegal emigration.

The Western Sahara conflict has threatened regional stability and hampered economic integration since 1976, when Polisario launched a full-scale guerrilla war against Morocco and Mauritania, the two of which had occupied the territory after Spain pulled out of there.

Mauritania also withdrew in 1980 and Morocco grabbed its share. The UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991 and sent a force known as Minurso to monitor it.

The Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by Polisario in 1976 has been recognized by more than 30 countries, but UN plans for a referendum on independence collapsed over quarrels about who would be allowed to vote.

Morocco has encouraged large numbers of Moroccans to settle in the region, where original Saharawis only make up a minority in the population of 400,000.

Rabat is now pushing an autonomy plan for Western Sahara, but Polisario and its backer Algeria want to hear of no such thing.

Many Saharawis have joined pro-independence protests because of the economic situation of the territory, where Morocco has built a considerable amount of infrastructure, but which has been unable to rise out of unemployment and poverty.

Morocco offers Sahara residents advantages such as tax exemptions and subsidized foodstuffs, but they are of most benefit to a few families favoured by Rabat, which control the economy, according to observers.

The most urgent question, however, is the fate of some 160,000 Saharawi refugees, who have been living for decades in camps in the inhospitable Algerian desert.

They now reportedly face a famine after the international community cut food aid to them.

Saharawi activists blame the deadlock largely on France, Spain and the United States, which they accuse of lacking the political will to solve the conflict for fear of damaging their relations with Morocco, a key ally of the West in North Africa.

If the situation persists for much longer, Polisario may finally carry out its threats and relaunch the war, which has already killed thousands, analysts said.

Threat of a new war looms in Western Sahara

[FORTUNATO]

Originally Posted by Al-khiyal

Rabat/Laayoune/Madrid - In the neighbourhood of Hay Riad in the Moroccan capital Rabat, Mohammed, the son of a Western Saharawi dignitary, and some friends sit around his computer.

The group reads all websites defending the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco, but does not participate in chats.

'Moroccan secret police are constantly logged in,' explains Moussa, one of the young men. 'They post pro-independence comments to gain your confidence and then one day you find them on your doorstep, bringing a host of problems.'

Threat of a new war looms in Western Sahara

good he knows that already....