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Any solution other than the referendum would be no more than "a gesticulation and a behaviour without future", recognises Driss Basri

Paris, 08/11/2004 (SPS) The former strong man of Morocco, the ex- minister of the Interior of Hassan II, Driss Basri, has recognised that "any solution other than the referendum would be no more than a gesticulation and an attitude without exit". It is "insane and inconvenient to claim the territory with out taking into account the population", he said, estimating that such an attitude is egoistic and "will have no result".

The Vizier of Hassan II, out of power after the death of his master in 1999, giving his point of view in the Spanish newspaper, La RAZON, has stressed that "the only solution is a referendum on self-determination as proposed in the UN's Peace Plan, elaborated by Perez de Cuéllar in 1991 and complemented by James Baker in 1997"

Here is bellow the complete translation of the interview, publicised Sunday in La Razon, and translated by SPS to English.

" Driss Basri: “The only solution to the conflict of the Sahara is a referendum”

París- For the first time in 30 years, the man who was the "grand Vizier" of King Hassan II, speaks about the vision of the Moroccan Monarch and his own on the Western Sahara conflict. In this exclusive interview to the RAZON, Driss Basri, who was the maker of the Moroccan "Green March" over the Spanish former colony, criticises the policy adopted by some closest assistants of Mohamed VI, qualifying it as "criminal and dangerous". Basri affirms that the only solution is a referendum on self-determination, as proposed by the UN Peace Plan, elaborated by Javier Perez de Cuéllar in 1991, and complemented by James Baker en 1997.

- Do you bet on direct dialogue to resolve the question of the Sahara?

- Hassan II estimated, and I will say it this way, that it is insane and inconvenient to claim the territory with out taking into account the population. It would be a selfish attitude that would have no result. For this he advocated for the contact, dialogue and negotiation. I met in many occasions with the leaders of the Polisario Front, in Lisbon, Roma, Paris, Morocco and in the UN. Personally, and His Majesty knew that, I was the promoter of this policy.

- Have you participate to the last encounter that took place in Morocco?

- As well. His Majesty did say it and it is not a secret. This meeting is the fruit of my personal efforts. They came to Rabat to meet with the King in August 1998 (1996 – Ed), but Hassan was in convalescence. And it was the crown prince who received them with my presence. We negotiated and discussed for long sessions.

Distance from the solution

- After that you accepted the dialogue?

- Hassan II had a conception and a plan for the unity. He prepared it before his death and I was the person in charge of implementing it. I can not reveal more on this subject so as not to betray his memory. My personal conviction is that we got very far from the solution. There was a dangerous and insane deviation called "the third way". When King Mohamed VI declared in 2001 that he had resolved the problem for good, I publicly denounced this "third way".

- Why do you think it is dangerous?

- Because it takes us far from the Peace Plan of Perez de Cuéllar (Settlement Plan AUO/UNO 1991- Ed), corrected and complemented by James Baker in Houston in 1997. According to him the only solution is the referendum on self-determination that offers to the whole population of the Sahara, and to nobody else but them, the possibility to decide between the integration with Morocco or independence.

- Is there any possibility of other solution?

- It would be no more than a gesticulation and an attitude without exit. The Plan is clear: if with or against integration. To speak about bastard plans, third way, is an attitude of idle intellectuals who highly value there own sayings.

- Who will win it?

- The majority of the voters win, nothing more. And Morocco, I am convinced, has got the means to win.

- This reminds me of what Hassan II had said that if the majority opted for independence he would be the first to establish diplomatic relations with the new country…

- Absolutely. Hassan II was a valiant man, and valiance implicates clear-sightedness. He knew what he was saying.

- You cause a "scandal" lately in Morocco for having spoken of "Western Sahara". Why this virulent reaction which is contradictory to the political deontology?

- I am a target to an injustice, an attack which is still unveiled, one does not expect from a kingdom such as Morocco. Each time I open the mouth, the passions go outrageous in the adversary camp, they lose reason and there is also a kind of hatred. It is the noise of an orchestra of empty casseroles. Anyhow, I am a man of State. Nobody can deprive me from this feature.

Deliberated Intoxication

- But what is happening?

- The Aljazeera TV Channel gave me a question on the "tension" between Algeria and Morocco. I answered that according to my information there is no such tension, nor any preparations for war. And I added that the Medias of the two countries are heating up the situation before the meeting of the Security Council "that would debate over the subject of Western Sahara". After that the drums of war reverberated.
- What does the Peace Plan says?

– It indicates that the concerned parties are Morocco and Polisario Front and that a referendum on self-determination should be organised in Western Sahara. This Plan is signed by our Minister for Foreign Affairs and by the Representative of Polisario Front and it is the subject to discussion in the 4th Committee of the Un, the Commission on Human Rights, the General Assembly and the Security Council, four or five times each year.

- In addition, Morocco accepts the MINURSO? Doesn't it?

- Effectively. The Minurso is the mission of the UN for the organisation of the referendum in Western Sahara, as its abbreviation indicates. It was not called the MINURSAM, which means for the Moroccan Sahara. Its boss is accredited by the king of Morocco, and the UN Secretary General's Representative, Alvaro de Soto, was received by Mohamed VI. I would be happy if Western Sahara is recognised as Moroccan. But there are other ways and means to reach this. If we prove to be selfish and narrow-minded with the international opinion, nobody would help us recover it. Moreover, this classical geographical terminology is known and is the most exact to name this territory, more than calling it Moroccan Sahara.

- You ordered the intervention of the forces of intervention against the demonstrators in El Aaiun in 1999?

- No! This demonstration in the Sahara was the subject to manipulations from some defined persons who orbit around the power.

- And they still are there?

- They are still in the orbit. Especially Fouad Ali El Hima and some ambitious Saharawis who wants to monopolise the management of the issue of the Sahara. By disturbing the public order, they want to demonstrate that the referendum was not viable and that it was necessary to go in the third way.

- The current Minister for Interior, Moustafa Sahel, declared that until 1999 the security services of Morocco, you were managing, had had a weakly managed terrorism. What would be your answer?

- Sahel has no moral, intellectual or professional authority to speak of the security services until 1999. He is an employee who worked under my command. Moreover, he is not the real Minister of interior. The Minister Delegate, Fouad Ali Al Hima, is his superior. Sahel is only the spokesperson of an unofficial organisation that coexists in parallel to the Government.

Policy of security

- But, what is your answer to Sahel?

- I left the Government in 1999 and the attacks of Casablanca took place in 2003. Four years after, a sufficient time to make the corrections, if necessary, the policy of security he did not do it.

- The leader of the Socialist Union (USFP), Mohamed El Yazgui, was disturbed by the fact that “Le Monde” opened its pages to you. Why?

- Because of his nonentity. Let me reveal something to you. Hassan II knew and acknowledged that I was so closed to the USFP. The majority of my political friends are in the socialist parties. Further, I will reveal here the first confession on my life that I never confessed until now. A year before he died, the King asked me in 1988 to reform the USFP to help this party modernise itself. He wanted it to be socio-democrat and monarchic. Its leaders, Abdarrahim Bouabid and Abdarrahmane Youssoufi, shared this vision with the King. Mandated by the King I helped in its reconstruction. El Yasghi destroyed it after having assumed its leadership. I am sincerely sorrowful because it was the party of the youth and hopes on which Hassan II relied to lead the change-over of the political power in 1997.

Starting from the date when Mohamed VI chased him from the Government in 1999, Driss Bassri suffers from ostracism. Some of his collaborators were judged, accuse of corruption. After having worked for 30 years as "the right arm" of Hassan II, he lives now in Paris without passport and his personal wealth was confiscated in Morocco. (SPS)

010/090/666/TRD 081030 NOV 04 SPS