March 2017

Addis Ababa, 25 March 2017 (SPS) - The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) has called on the United Nations and the international community as a whole to give their full support to African efforts to overcome the current impasse in the process of settling the Western Sahara conflict, noting that it has decided to review the situation on a regular basis in Western Sahara on the basis of updates and recommendations provided by the Chairperson of the AU Commission and the AU High Representative for the Sahara Western region.

Addis Ababa, 25 March 2017 (SPS) - The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) Called for the immediate engagement of direct and serious talks without preconditions and in accordance with article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the AU to overcome the current impasse in the Western Sahara conflict, affirming that it remains actively seized of the issue.

Moscow, 25 March 2017 (SPS) -The Sahrawi coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) M'hamed Khaddad called Friday in Moscow for "strict" compliance with the international legality to allow the people exercise the right to self-determination.
Speaking at a joint press conference with other members of the Polisario Front delegation on a visit to Moscow, Khaddad said neither the long years of war nor Morocco's political manoeuvres undermined the determination of the Sahrawi people to regain independence."   

Moscow, 24 March 2017 (SPS) - Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov underlined Thursday, in Moscow, the need to increase the international community’s coordinated efforts to reach a fair resolution to the conflict in Western Sahara.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, who is the special representative of Russia’s President to the Middle East and Africa, received Thursday a delegation of the Polisario Front on visit to Moscow, led by Mhamed Khaddad, Sahrawi coordinator at the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

El-Auiun (Occupied Territories), 24 March 2017 (SPS) - Moroccan forces intervened violently Thursday against dozens of unemployed Sahrawis, under the banner of Coordination of Unemployed Sahrawis, who peacefully protested inside a bus to demand their legitimate rights to direct employment and decent living.
The Moroccan forces used stones and water cannons against them and smashed the glass of the bus, which resulted in various injuries among the unemployed Sahrawi protesters. 

Bir Lehlou, 24 March 2017 (SPS) -  President of the Republic, Secretary-general of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, sent Thursday a message of condolences to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May.
“It is with profound sadness that we learnt about the terror attack at the Palace of Westminster yesterday, which killed three innocent people and injured around 40 others,” said the President of the Republic in his message. 

Algiers, March 23, 2017 (SPS) - Minister of Communication Hamid Grine met Thursday Saharawi Minister of Information Hamada Salma Daf, with whom he discussed bilateral relations and how to boost them in the information field.
The two officials, who met at the headquarters of the Communication ministry, reviewed the joint action strategy between the two ministries, before examining the last developments of Western Sahara issue.

Algiers, March 23, 2017 (SPS) - The ambassador of the Sahrawi Democratic Republic (SADR) to Algeria, Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoune called on the African Union (AU) to invest more in the resolution of the Sahrawi cause, considering that Morocco’s absence from the meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council is “a failure for a first test” following its accession to the African Union.

Addis Abeba, March 23, 2017 (SPS) - Saharawi Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Salek said the absence of Morocco at the meeting of the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC), held Monday in Addis Ababa, did not prevent the AU from maintaining its positions in favour of the settlement of the conflict of Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco since 1975, Saharawi news agency SPS has reported.

New York, March 22, 2017 (SPS) - The President of the Republic , Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, asked the Security Council to assume its responsibility and to end, as soon as possible, the Moroccan escalation policy and provocation.
 

New York, March 21,  2017 (SPS)  - Saharawi President Brahim Gali discussed on Monday in New York the blockade of the peace process in Western Sahara with the British presidency of the Security Council.
 
The Saharawi Head of State informed the British Presidency of the position of the Polisario Front on the whole peace process and the obstacles that this process is having as a result of Morocco's policy of obstruction on the ground, representative of the Frente POLISARIO to the UN, Ahmed Boukhari told APS.
 

New York (UN), March 20,  2017 (SPS) - President of the Republic Brahim Gali met in New York on Monday with the chairman of the UN Special Committee for Decolonization, Me. Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno , With which he addressed the latest developments of the question of Western Sahara.
 

Pretoria (South Africa), 20 March 2017 (SPS) - South Africa's ruling party African National Congress (ANC) pledges Sunday to make of 2017 a year of support to the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) at the African Union (AU) and to intensify efforts in this respect at both continental and international levels, media reported.

Port Louis (Mauritius), 19 March, 2017 (SPS) - Speaker of the National Council, Khatri Adduh, arrived Sunday in Port Louis, Mauritius, who will represent the President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, in the Inaugural African Economic Platform (AEP) from 20 - 22 March.
Mr. Khatri Adduh was received at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport by Mauritius Minster of Foreign Affairs Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo. 

London, 19 March 2017 (SPS) - The Spanish government in a statement yesterday confirmed the EU court's judgement that Western Sahara goods are not covered by the EU-Morocco trade deal. Spain states it is up to France to make sure the controversial trade of fish oil from 'Key Bay' vessel was properly tariffed.On 16 March 2017, the Spanish government explicitly stated that products from Western Sahara are not covered by the EU-Morocco trade agreements.

New York, 19 March 2017 (SPS) Saharawi Coordinator with MINURSO, Mhamed Khadad, said that the meeting of the Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Ibrahim Ghali, with the new UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, has allowed to inform the latter about the latest developments of the question of Western Sahara and the Moroccan obstacles against the United Nations' efforts to find a just and lasting solution to the last case of decolonization in Africa.

By Linnéa Engström
17 mars 2017
Morocco has no official claim to the waters off Western Sahara, so why, Linnéa Engström asks, should the EU pay Rabat for the right to fish there?
Linnéa Engström is a Swedish Green MEP and first vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries.

London, 18 March 2017 (SPS) - The freedom of expression in Western Sahara is muzzled by Morocco which attacks journalists and human rights activists, denounced the British organization for human rights defence in Western Sahara, Adala UK.
The NOG wrote on its website this week that the Moroccan regime persecutes and imprisons journalists because of their political opinions, the same false charges for which human rights defenders are accused.

New York, 18 March 2017 (SPS) – President of Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has reaffirmed the Sahrawi people’s adherence, under the leadership of its sole and legitimate representative the polisario Front, to its just struggle for self-determination and independence
He also reiterated the willingness of the Sahrawi party to cooperate constructively with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his personal envoy, during a meeting Saturday in New York with UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

New York, 18 March 2017 (SPS) – President of Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, met Saturday in New York with United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.