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US Congress Hearing on "Western" Sahara
Washington, Nov. 18 - "It is time for Morocco and Algeria to
find a political solution to the (Sahara) issue, which
have lasted for too long" said, here on Thursday, republican
Florida congressman,
Lincoln Diaz-Balart.Speaking at a hearing session, organized by
the sub-committee in charge of Africa, human rights and
international operations, part of the Foreign Relations
Committee in the US Senate, Diaz-Balart said the Sahara issue
"should necessarily be solved," noting that Morocco has
reiterated its readiness to start negotiations to "find a
reasonable solution to this problem." The Sahara issue opposes
Morocco to the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists, who claim
the separation of the kingdom's southern provinces, the Sahara,
from the rest of the country. The Polisario is sequestering
thousands of Moroccans in camps located in Tindouf, Algeria.
Diaz-Balart deplored that despite the efforts made by the United
Nations and by the international community, thousands of
families continue to suffer in the "Polisario" camps in Tindouf.
The American official called for providing the Sahara
inhabitants with a mechanism for a “true and deep autonomy, in
respect of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of
Morocco.”
Echoing the senator’s opinion, former special representative of
the UN Secretary General in the Sahara, Erik Jensen, insisted
that it is time to find a “negotiated political solution” to
this conflicts, which is the “biggest obstacle against stability
and development in the region.”
The United States will offer assistance to reach this solution,
he said. A solution, to which Morocco, Algeria and the
Polisario would participate, will recognize larger political
realities, facilitate the integration of the Maghreb (Algeria,
Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) and consolidate the
economic and social development of the security alliances. The
hearing also saw the participation of Lieutenant Ali El Jaouhar
who told the “torture, deprivation, and humiliation” he endured
for 23 years in the Polisario jails.
Lieutenant El Jaouhar was encouraged by the
congressmen to sue the jailors before the International Court of
Justice.
Brad Sherman, a democratic congressman from California, and
member of the sub-committee, described as “absurd” Polisario
objective of building an “independent entity” of 75,000 people,
pointing out that this number is smaller than the number of
inhabitants in his own circumscription.
In a declaration provided by the Moroccan government as an
official document of the hearing, Morocco reiterated its will to
find a lasting solution to the Sahara conflict, in respect of
the UN charter and the right of Morocco to its territorial
integrity and national unity.
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Hajja Fadma; Morocco's Lobbyist extraordinaire
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