Briefing of the latest developments in the Question of Western Sahara.

Briefing of the latest developments in the Question of Western Sahara.

1. Independence and Self-determination Uprising:

Since the 20 May 2005 "Intifada" in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, hundreds Saharawi protesters were injured by Moroccan security forces, a new report documents. In addition, many others were tortured while in Moroccan detention and more than 20 families saw their homes ruined.

The uprising started by a group of Saharawis taking into the streets calling for an end to the Moroccan occupation and chanting pro-Polisario slogans. Met with riot police and armed troops, the protests spread to other Sahrawi towns and to several universities in Morocco.



The most prominent human rights activists in occupied Western Sahara were brutally repressed by armed Moroccan security forces. While protesters were beaten and injured in the streets of El Aaiun (Capital of Western Sahara) and other Sahrawi and Moroccan towns, Most were injured during a police attack on a peaceful sit-in organised by human rights activists on 25 May. Those detained were consequently "savagely tortured".


Further 93 "kidnapped" persons, who were detained for hours or days by Moroccan security forces. Several Moroccan torturers, including high-ranking officers of the civilian and military occupation administration are directly supervising these atrocities. Torture methods had included beating with truncheons on sexual organs, tying up and hanging prisoners by their arms and legs with the stomach down - soldiers would then "beat the prisoner and stand for seconds on his back" - using electricity and the beating of a pregnant women on the stomach. Many of those were Sahrawi students in the Moroccan cities of Rabat, Marrakech and Agadir, while others were demonstrators in the capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiun and torture is systematically used by Moroccan security forces, in particular in the occupied territory, no methods were left out to repress the "Intifada" since then.




Most of the Saharawis are held in the infamous "Black Jail" in El Aaiun, known for its terrible record of torture. The detainees - most already have sustained severe injuries due to weeks of torture.

Further victims of the Moroccan repression of the "Intifada" include a large number of families in Western Sahara and students in Morocco that have seen their homes broken into and mostly destroyed. 17 homes were smashed in El Aaiun; some were punished for providing medical aid to injured Sahrawis. At the university campuses in Marrakech, Rabat and Agadir (Morocco), tens of Sahrawi students saw their rooms demolished and belongings removed.

1.2. Echos:
The President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, asked the President of the UN Security Council, H.E. Ellen Margrethe Loj, to protect Saharawi civil population against the violations perpetrated by Moroccan authorities against them in El Aaiun this week.

Here is the complete text of the letter.
"
Her Excellency Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj,
President of the Security Council
United Nations
New York

Bir Lehlu, 26 May 2005

Excellency,

The question of Western Sahara has been, since the sixties, on the agenda of the United Nations as a question of decolonisation. All resolutions adopted successively by the General Assembly and the Security Council regarding Western Sahara, including the latest one approved on 28 April 2005, called for its resolution on this basis through the exercise by the Saharawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. However, all the tremendous efforts, which the international community has deployed to this end during all those years, have been frustrated by the Moroccan intransigent position, which was blatantly made clear in April 2004.

Besides its obstruction of the implementation of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan, which it had formally concluded with the Frente POLISARIO being the other party to the conflict, Morocco has not only rejected the Peace plan for Self-determination of the People of Western Sahara” (Baker’s Plan) that was a result of remarkable efforts by the international community and which was unanimously endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 1495 (July 2003), but has also declared its rejection of any solution that would not ensure its “sovereignty” over the territory of Western Sahara, which it occupied militarily and illegally on 31 October 1975. By opting for intransigence and defiance, Morocco has clearly shown its disregard for the principle of self-determination and hence for all UN principles and conventions.

More seriously, if left undeterred, this dangerous position of Morocco will inevitably jeopardise peace and stability of the entire region, which makes it imperative for the Untied Nations, whose mission (MINURSO) is already on the ground, to assume fully its responsibilities in brining about the decolonisation of Western Sahara.

I am addressing to you this letter to draw your attention to the alarming situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara where Moroccan forces continue to date its brutal repression of Saharawi civilians who, in peaceful demonstrations, have taken to the streets to demand the respect for human rights, for the Security Council resolutions regarding Western Sahara and particularly for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.

Excellency,
On 21 May 2005, the Saharawi prisoner of conscience, Ahmed Mahmoud Hadi, known as Kainan, was transferred against his will by the Moroccan occupying authorities from the “Dark Prison” in the occupied El Aaiun to the prison of Ait Melloul, south of Agadir in the Moroccan Kingdom. According to many sources, the transfer, of which the family of the prisoner was not notified, took place under degrading conditions where the prisoner was ill-treated and savagely tortured and even forcibly anesthetised in the process.

In response to this unjust situation, Kainan’s family, together with a group of Saharawi human rights activists, staged a sit-in in front of the “Dark Prison” to protest against the inhuman treatment to which he was subjected and against his transfer into Morocco, which was conducted as part of a Moroccan systematic policy aimed at emptying the Territory of its active forces. The protestors also demanded that Kainan be returned immediately to his initial place of imprisonment where his family could have access to him.

At noon, on 22 May 2005, the protestors were, without warning, attacked by units of Moroccan intervention forces and police that instantly began beating them with truncheons and brutalising them, while causing numerous casualties among the protestors of whom many had to be hospitalised.

Excellency,

Nor sooner had the Moroccan occupying authorities repressed the protestors than they mobilised more of their security corps that were given orders to place under siege all Saharawi neighbourhoods in El Aaiun such as Maatala quarter, Zemla quarter, Smara street and the boulevards of Tan Tan, Ras-el-Khaima, Skeikima, Boukraa, Smara as well as Sheila camp, among others.

On 24 and 25 May 2005, in order to suppress and contain the Saharawi population in those areas who only were demonstrating peacefully in order to exercise their legitimate rights to free expression and movement, the Moroccan occupying forces intensified their repressive and brutal practices including not only beating with truncheons and using tear gas but also violating the sanctity of Saharawi houses, confiscating belongings, assaulting women and children as well as arresting and kidnapping in addition to torture. All these repressive measures have already caused many casualties among Saharawi civilians of whom some are still in serious conditions.

As the Saharawi civilians cannot, under whatever circumstances, be deprived of their right to demonstrate and express their opinions peacefully, we energetically denounce this brutal repression to which many of our citizens in the occupied El Aaiun have been subjected as was the case of Ihssan Fadeli El-Bar, known as Temim.

The Moroccan campaign of repression has already caused many casualties among not only the Saharawi civilians who were demonstrating and protesting peacefully but also many others who did not take part in the demonstrations.

Excellency,

The Saharawi civilians who organised those peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins were fully acting in line with their legitimate demands as provided for in international conventions. What they were demanding was the release of all Saharawi prisoners of conscience and the accounting for all those who have disappeared as well as the recovering of the remains of those who have already perished in detention; the respect for their fundamental rights to the freedom of expression and the freedom of movement as enshrined in international conventions; and, in particular, the exercise by the Saharawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence through the holding of a free and fair referendum whereby the Saharawi people can choose their future in a free, democratic and transparent manner and in accordance with the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

We are firmly confident that, despite the oppressive practices pursued by the occupying Moroccan authorities, our citizens in the occupied territories will remain steadfastly attached to their inalienable right to assert their national rights. As they were peacefully demonstrating and fully acting in accordance with the dictates of international legality, the oppressive campaign, which is being conducted by the Moroccan occupying forces under the eye of MINURSO, is an extremely serious matter that necessitates your immediate intervention as to providing the UN mission with the necessary mandate in order to protect the lives of the Saharawi citizens, to ensure their safety and to provide them with the basic conditions for expressing their opinions and political convictions in a peaceful and democratic way.

We avail ourselves of this opportunity to urgently call upon you to ensure that the Security Council intervenes immediately in order to protect the Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara in general and in El Aaiun in particular. According to the latest information, the situation in those territories is deteriorating dramatically and may lead to further tension owing to the persistence of the Moroccan occupying forces in their campaign of oppression and terror against the Saharawi civilians who remain attached to their legitimate rights to demonstrate and express their opinions peacefully.

Whilst facing the Moroccan terrorist and oppressive apparatus, the Saharawi civilians have great faith and hope that the Untied Nations will assume its full responsibilities as to providing them with protection pending the completion of the decolonisation process. They also remain hopeful that the Untied Nations will exert all necessary pressure on the Moroccan Government in order to abide by international legality and allow the Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, so that genuine peace and stability may be restored in the Maghreb and the entire region of North Africa.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Mohamed Abdelaziz,
President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic,
Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO.






Speech delivered to Congress by Rep. Judge Poe of Texas:

Recently, Moroccan police and security forces have arrested and tortured peaceful protestors. For example, as recently as July 20th, reports indicate that Moroccan security forces abducted five human rights activists (Mohamed Elmoutaoikil, Noumria Brahim, Elhoucine Lidri, Larbi Massaoud, and Gaoudi Fdaili). According to the reports, all five of these people suffered psychological torture for long hours, humiliation, and threats of rape. Unfortunately, this was all done due to their opinion concerning the status of Western Sahara.

After this incident, reports indicate that both Noumria Brahim and Lhoucine Lidri were subjected to further torture (including being burned, handcuffed and blindfolded, and being brutally beaten). The Moroccan officials that perpetrated these horrendous acts of torture are reported to be the Wali of Security in El Ayun, Brahim Bensami, and the Urban Security Group Chief Officer, Ichi Abou Hassan, and Abdelhap Rabii, a security officer. When these torturers were finished, they locked their victims in the Black Jail in El Ayun on July 23rd, 2005. Reports indicate they are still being held captive.

Such acts of violence and abuse against peaceful protestors and human rights activists have escalated in the last few weeks in Morocco. Other reports indicate that on, July 21, 2005, a group of six Saharawi political prisoners who were arrested during a protest in El Ayun, were presented to the court of appeal in El Ayun. The report reveals the group was tried in a show trial on June 23, 2005. They were sentenced to up to five years imprisonment-one of the victims of this injustice is human right activist, Bougarfa Abderrahmane. Mr. Abderrahmane is 53 years old and a father to ten children. The others were sentenced to three years in prison ( Hamma Achrih, Chyahou Brahim )and two years in prison (Mohamed Salem Essallami, Azlai Abdellah).


Sources say the Court of Appeal in El Ayun was firmly controlled by the Moroccan security forces while the trial was taking place. Some Saharawi citizens were forbidden to enter the court room. In addition, a French journalist, Agata André, from the newspaper, Charle Hebdo, who came to El Ayun to attend the trial of these political prisoners was put in a separate room until the Saharawi political prisoners' trial was over.
Furthermore, it is reported that the families of the five activists arrested were banned from bringing food to their relatives as well as from seeing them. No telephone contact with them is possible. Unfortunately, these reports of torture and injustice are commonplace for the Saharawi people who are denied equal rights under the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.


On one of Secretary Condoleezza Rice's trips overseas, Secretary Rice delivered a strong message to the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, concerning the lack of civil liberties in the kingdom of Morocco. The Spanish newspaper, La Razon, reported on June 30th that Ms. Rice expressed her concerns regarding the Moroccan regime's continuous violations of freedom of press and of expression.
Amidst recent reports of escalating repression by
Morocco's intelligence and security services against dissenting voices, and the repression perpetrated against Saharawis, Ms. Rice is reportedly urged the King to bring an end to the repression and allow progressive voices to be heard.


Other countries have expressed similar concerns about Morocco's human rights record regarding the Saharawis. Earlier this month in Spain, Spanish news sources reported that a Spanish delegation, composed of parliamentarians and representatives of the civil society of Aragon, was not allowed by Moroccan authorities to visit the occupied capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiun. The delegation planned to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by Moroccan forces. One of the delegates was quoted as saying Morocco's denial of the visit was absolutely unacceptable.


Morocco has been occupying Western Sahara for decades. The United Nations Security Council has continued to uphold the right of Western Sahara to self-determination. On April 29th, 2004, the Security Council adopted Resolution No. 1541 which reaffirmed support for the Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara devised by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy, James Baker. Two years prior, the Security Council upheld the right to self-determination in a meeting to discuss the conflict over Western Sahara. In this 2002 meeting, the Security Council rejected other proposed options and clearly stated that the only viable resolution to this conflict must be based on the Saharawi people's right to self-determination.

There is a long history of international consensus that supports Western Sahara's right to self-determination. The International Court of Justice, issued on October 16, 1975 the following decision concerning the conflict over Western Sahara, "The Court's conclusion is that the materials and information presented to it do not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity. Thus the Court has not found legal ties of such a nature as might affect the application of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara, and in particular, of the principle of the self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the territory."


I agree with many of my colleagues that Morocco is an important partner to the United States in our War on Terror and in international trade. However, the examples of human rights abuses that Moroccan officials have exhibited against the Saharawi people and the peaceful protestors is not the type of behaviour we expect from our friends.

A conclusion for the conflict over Western Sahara is long overdue. Both sides of the conflict need to come together and implement the Settlement Plan elaborated by Secretary James Baker. A great step towards a peaceful resolution would be for Morocco to release all their political prisoners, including Mr. Tamek and Mrs. Haidar, to stop detaining and torturing peaceful protestors and human rights activists, and to allow freedom of thought and expression both in Morocco and in occupied Western Sahara.

Letter of 104 European Parlament members to Kofi Annan

Mister Kofi Annan
Secretary General of the United Nations,
New York Brussels, 23rd June 2005
Subject: Violations of Human Rights in Western Sahara
Mister Secretary General,
We are writing to you in relation to the very serious situation that is currently developing in the territory of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation.
Since 21 May 2005, peaceful demonstrations have taken place in Western Sahara calling for the implementation of UN resolutions as the sole solution to a conflict that has lasted for almost 30 years.
The Moroccan authorities have responded to these peaceful demonstrations with brutal repression, thus violating the most fundamental principles of the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression.
Up until now, the number of victims is of more than 300 wounded, some of them suffering from very serious injuries, struggling to stay alive and being denied any medical assistance in hospital, 85 imprisoned, and more than 30 people missing. In addition, entire families are being harassed in their own homes. What is more, the territory is completely sealed off to the media and at least three delegations of parliamentarians and other personalities, especially coming from Spain, have not been allowed to enter the land to see for themselves the gravity of the current situation.
We firmly believe that this situation must be dealt with urgently by deploying all the political tools required. Let us not forget that this is a latent conflict, in which the UN is struggling to maintain a very fragile ceasefire.
Therefore, we call on the UN:
1. To put pressure on Morocco so that it immediately stops the repression of civilians.
2. To make sure that the national and international media can enter the territory and do their job without any kind of impediments.
3. To set up an international inquiry commission to investigate these events.
4. To send permanent international observers and human rights organizations in the aim of protecting the Saharawi civil population that is constantly being harassed by the Moroccan army, police and rapid intervention forces.
Mister Kofi Annan
Secretary General of the United Nations,
New York Brussels, 23rd June 2005


2.EU-Morocco Fishery Agreement:

Against the international Law related to the Exploitation of the natural resources of the Non-self-governing territories the EU illegally signed a fishery Agreements with Morocco that includes the waters of Western Sahara recognized internationally as non-autonomous territory.

2.1.Reaction:

The Polisario Front sent a letter to the European Commissioner:

Brussels, 18th May 2005

H.E. M. Joseph Borg
Commissioner
Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
European Commission



Dear Mr Borg,
I would like to express, as the European Representative for Europe of the Frente POLISARIO, our great concern for greater transparency and respect for International Law of the European Commission in its current negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco in the field of Fisheries Policy.
As you know, following the United Nations doctrine in the case, the Western Sahara is a Non-Self Governing territory, pending on a decolonisation process under the monitoring of the United Nations through its Mission on the field MINURSO (French acronym for “Mission des Nations Unies pour le Referendum au Sahara Occidental”).
The European Commission has launched recently a new negotiations process with the Kingdom of Morocco in the Fisheries sector. As you know, Morocco’s key tactic to illegally maintain its occupation in Western Sahara is to include the Western Sahara waters within its “fishing areas under Moroccan control” in order to involve European interests in its military illegal occupation and the permanent violation of International Law. As you also know, following the International paramount treaty in this matter, the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, of which Morocco is Part), and the January 2002 Legal opinion of the United Nations Under-secretary for Legal Issues, on the status of Western Sahara natural resources, Morocco could not extend or claim since February 1976 any jurisdiction over the entire waters of the Western Sahara.
Taking account the illegal or “technical” precedents that marked the European Commission Fisheries agreements with Morocco in the 80s and 90s, we would strongly urge the European Commission to fully respect the internationally recognised border between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Western Sahara, that it’s the 27º 40’ parallel -as clearly mentioned in the United Nations doctrine and practice- and use all the European political leverage to preserve the Western Sahara waters and its 1000 coastline from any kind of agreement involving European fleets that would further deplete its critical fisheries biomass.
In this line, the European Commission should, at least be coherent with the international legality and finally take an example from the crystal clear position of the United States government (statement annexed) where its Representative for Trade, Mr Robert ZOELLICK stated on July 2004 that the United States clearly recognised the international borders of Morocco and Western Sahara in the framework of its Free-trade Agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco.
I note in your speech to the EC Maritime Law Course of the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI, Malta, 4 April 2005) that you state: “The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, (…) is considered today to be a universal instrument of international law. It is the main framework for the management of ocean affairs around the globe, built on the principle that: “all the problems of ocean space are closely inter-related and need to be considered as a whole”.
I would urge you to make sure that this great and constructive will of the European Commission comes soon with clear and enforceable rules regarding the current Western Sahara International Law status as a Non-Self Governing Territory.

Yours sincerely,
Mohamed SIDATI
Minister Delegate for Europe
Member of the National Secretariat of the POLISARIO Front


3. Release of the Moroccan POWs:
The Polisario Front decided unilaterally to set free the remaining 404 Moroccan POWS captured during the war (1975-1991) in a good will gesture to boost the peace plan in Western Sahara and to put an end to the current its deadlock.

Statement of release:
We would like to inform you that the Polisario Front has decided to liberate on 18 August, the last Moroccan prisoners of war. These officers, sub-officers and soldiers were captured in the course of fighting which set the forces of the Army of Saharawi Popular Liberation against the forces of the Moroccan army.
The Polisario Front which in the past proceeded to the unilateral release of several groups of Moroccan prisoners of war in gestures of good will, intends with this latest initiative, to finish and complete the operation of final liberation of all Moroccan prisoners of war.
This decision has been undertaken as a response to requests, as the Polisario Front has always been sensitive to appeals coming from all those who are working for the triumph of the national rights of the Saharawi people.
It also comes at a moment when the United Nations Secretary General has just appointed a new Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, and this will contribute, we hope, to generate a climate which will favour a dynamic for peace, which we would like to believe will be irreversible.
This decision which must be described as generous, expresses the magnanimity of the Saharawi people; but is taken with immense difficulty, at a time when Morocco dressed in the rags of its political blindness, is hounding unrelentingly a whole people and their rights. This decision is the harder to take, in that Morocco has instituted a reign of terror and the arbitrary against Saharawi populations in the territories of Western Sahara, which it occupies illegally.
The Polisario Front, adopting this courageous decision while the conflict is still unconcluded, also makes a challenge to Morocco to liberate the Saharawi prisoners of war (over 150 combatants), whose existence it still denies, and to shed light on the fate of over 500 Saharawis which it is caused to disappear since the beginning of this conflict.
If the Polisario Front shows itself respectful of international humanitarian law in releasing the last Moroccan prisoners of war, the same cannot be said for Morocco, which tramples underfoot the international conventions to which it is a signatory and shows intransigence and contempt towards the international community's efforts for peace.
As a result of this gesture, the Polisario Front has no further debts to anyone, there are no possible reproaches to be made. We hope thus to contribute to the reduction of the suffering of the Saharawi people in the territories occupied by Morocco as well as contributing towards a just and lasting resolution of the conflict through the exercise by the Saharawi people of its legitimate right to self-determination.
Brussels, 17.08.05
Mohamed SIDATI

3.1. Echos:

Kofi Annan:
The Secretary-General welcomes the decision by the Frente POLISARIO to release all remaining 404 Moroccan prisoners of war, who are being repatriated today to the Kingdom of Morocco by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He expresses his appreciation to all parties involved, in particular the ICRC and United States Senator Richard Lugar.
The Secretary-General considers the release a positive step, and expresses his hope that it will serve to foster better relations between the parties and contribute to overcoming the present political impasse.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call on the Kingdom of Morocco, and on the Frente POLISARIO to continue cooperating with the ICRC to account for those who are still missing.
Sweden:
Minister for Foreign Affairs Freivalds welcomes Polisario's decision to release all Moroccan war prisoners
"It is very pleasing that Polisario has decided to release all Moroccan prisoners of war," says Minister for Foreign Affairs Laila Freivalds.
"I presume the parties are taking advantage of the improved conditions that have now been created to break the deadlock that the conflict has reached. In the peace process that we hope can recommence, the UN and Secretary-General's Personal Envoy play a central role. Sweden is prepared to give the Envoy all the support necessary to ensure that the Saharan people's right to self-determination can be realised

War on Want:

War on Want welcomes the Polisario Front’s release today of all remaining Moroccan prisoners of war. The freeing of the prisoners leaves the ball firmly in Morocco’s court to agree to a peace plan which will allow Saharawi self-determination over Western Sahara.




US-Western Sahara Foundation:
The US-Western Sahara Foundation welcomed the imminent release of Moroccan POWs by the Polisario, but simultaneously called for Morocco to reciprocate by releasing the 151 Sahrawis it has held during the same period, as well as the 1,700 political prisoners that have been seized in occupied Western Sahara.
"Just recently in May, Morocco violently crushed a peaceful demonstration for self-determination in occupied Western Sahara by rounding up hundreds of Sahrawis, breaking into homes and beating men, women and children," explained US Western Sahara Foundation Chairman Suzanne Scholte. Today, five Sahrawis remain in prison: Noumria Brahim, Lidri El Houssein, El Arbi Messaoud , Moutawakil Mohamed and Ali Salem Tamek and they have now have joined the list of 1,700 who have disappeared during Morocco's brutal occupation of Western Sahara which began when it invaded the country in 1975.
"While the Polisario have accounted for every single POW they have held and allowed regular visits by the International Red Cross, the Moroccans continue to deny access to the Sahrawis that are held in Morocco's infamous jails, as well as deny access by the international community to the occupied territory," said Carlos Wilson, Executive Director of the USWSF. "Moroccan-Occupied Western Sahara is essentially shut off from the rest of the world."
Several planeloads of parliamentarians from Spain and Europe, who recently traveled to the occupied territory to investigate Morocco's abuses against the Sahrawis, were forced to turn back when Moroccan authorities would not allow them to deplane. During the same period, journalists from Spain and Norway were deported for trying to report about the issue.
The Polisario has done the right thing by releasing these POWs and reuniting them with their families," said Scholte. "It is time for Morocco to do the same: release the Sahrawis and end its brutal occupation of Western Sahara, so that the Sahrawi families can be reunited as well."

The AU:

Addis Abeba, 22/08/2005 (SPS) African Union Commission (UA), which hailed the release by Polisario Front last Thursday of the last 404 Moroccan prisoners of war, called Morocco to "reciprocate concerning the Saharawi ‘disappeareds’ and prisoners", exhorting the international community to "seize" this positive initiative to resolve the problem of Western Sahara conforming to the international legality, reported Algerian Press Service, APS, on Monday.


The release of Moroccan prisoners of war constitutes "an humanitarian initiative that should help the two parties, to the conflict on the territory of Western Sahara (Morocco and Polisario Front), recover confidence in each other", the AU’s Commission indicated.

Morocco and the international community must then seize this generous Saharawi initiative to resolve the Western Sahara conflict and start "reciprocating" by releasing more than 30 Saharawi political prisoners, some 150 Saharawi prisoners of war and more than 500 civilian ‘disappeareds’ since the starting of the Moroccan invasion of the territory in 1975.


The commission hoped that "the international community exploits the present action of prisoners release to encourage the two parties to the conflict to more efforts aimed at facilitating the search of definitive solution to the conflict".


The settlement of Western Sahara’s conflict must be "conform to the UN’s resolution, especially the resolution 1495; which is unanimously adopted by the Security Council", the AU’s Commission affirmed.


France:

Paris, 19/08/2005 (SPS) Paris "is happy with the positive gesture" undertaken by Polisario Front, who released the last Moroccan prisoners of war on Thursday, indicated The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Friday, reported Algerian Press Agency, APS.


France, who "hails the release of the 404 Moroccan prisoners of war, Polisario Front detained", is "happy with this positive gesture undertaken with the intermediation of the USA in accordance with the ICRC", the Quai d'Orsay’s Spokesperson said.


On another hand, he indicated that "France recalls her constant support to the search of a political solution" to the question of Western Sahara, "within the framework of the UN", the same source said.