Sunday 26 August 2012

MOROCCO SHOULD LET THE SAHRAWI ARAB REPUBLIC BE

August 25, 2012

Twelve activists imprisoned by Moroccan authorities for three years for their involvement in clashes that resulted in the death of seven people last year, are on a 48 hour hunger strike. The prisoners, from the disputed Western Sahara region, are protesting against the conditions of their detention. Their hunger strike is planned to coincide with a visit from the the US based Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights.

The battles in Western Sahara have been raging since Moroccan and Mauritanian forces moved in to fill in the gap left with the withdrawal of Spanish from the territory in 1975. Mauritania withdrew in 1979 and Morocco then seized most of the southern territory too. Morocco is willing to grant semi-autonomy to the region which it considers part of its territory, while the Algerian backed Sahrawi Polisario Front is demanding self-determination and has declared the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in the limited parts of the territory it manages to control. Despite a United Nations sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, the situation is strained, with both parties seeking international recognition.

Polisaro is not doing too badly. SADR has received formal recognition from 82 states and has been granted membership to the African Union. Morocco is not doing badly either, particularly if, as they say, possession is nine-tenths of the law. But the status quo is not particularly helpful to any one. Polisaro has nowhere to go, but Morocco can easily withdraw gracefully. Would it not be better to have a friendly neighbour and ally, than a semi-autonomous region that is always going to resent you and may be prone to cause trouble?

1 comment:

  1. Morocco is a disjointed oligopoly Kingdom ruled by an un-elected family that has brought countless misery to it's people and surrounding countries! France, Britain and the USA seem to keep adding fuel to this fire and both secretly and openly support this hitleresque-type Kingdom. The former Spanish Sahara nwas to be governed by the Polisario yet Morocco invaded the sovereign territory and took it over via military force. Moreover, they have built walls to keep the Polisario out (in the same demonic manner that Netayahoo in Israel has done to keep out the Palestinians from their own land). Funny HOW you don't hear the usual rambling clowns like Cameron, O'Bamma and Canada's Harper speaking about," Territorial Integrity" here right? Funny HOW that all works. As usual the Polisario Front's people are left to starve and suffer all the while the Western countries focus on their zombie-Agendas against Iran, North Korea, Russia and so forth. Funny HOW that all works! I say to ALL Moroccan citizens to aust (via yet another USA backed FAKE Arab Spring) the institutional King and form a Republic by the people and for the people. Ohhh wait, the US and the West only make these FAKE Arab spring uprisings where the government in place is not on their side...ohh i Forgot, sorry about that!!

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