Algiers, 11/07/2006 (SPS) The President of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, affirmed Monday in an interview to the Algerian newspaper, Al Khabar, that Morocco has failed at the summit of the African Union in Banjul and that the latter has reinforced the position of the Saharawi Republic as a full Member of the Union.

Mr. Abdelaziz openly answered all the questions of the Algerian journalist, Limia F, on subject such as the nature of the axis of Rabat-Paris-Madrid, autonomy, CORCAS, the Spanish military support to Morocco, the perspectives of the solution to the conflict, the African Union’s Summit in Banjul or the USA position regarding the conflict.

Here is the complete text of the interview translated to English by SPS:

Al Khabar: Your Excellency, Mr. President, you have recently addressed a message to the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, calling on him to put an end to the Moroccan repression in the occupied territories. Can we have an idea about what is really happening in this region, and if you got a positive response from the UN?

President Abdelaziz: After having lost hope in the UN’s promises and after having understood that the Moroccan Government is not ready to organise the referendum, the Saharawi citizens, in the occupied territories, and even in the south of Morocco, decided on May the 21st 2005 to start the Intifadha of independence, to peacefully advocate their right to self-determination, the release of the Saharawi political prisoners and the respect of the human rights.

The most atrocious forms of torture were inflected to the Saharawi citizens by the Moroccan police, what resulted in the assassination of two Chouhada (martyrs), hundreds demonstrators wounded and dozens others arrested. Morocco also expelled 21 delegations of international observers who wanted to visit El Aaiun. We drew the attention of the UN to this reality and called on it to assume its responsibilities vis-à-vis this complicated situation and face the barbarous practices of Morocco. Until now the Saharawi party succeeded, through this Intifadha, to attract the attention of the international community on this cause, especially after the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, had evoked the Intifadha and the repression it was faced with in his last report to the UN Security Council. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has, on its side, dispatched a delegation of observers to the occupied zones, in addition to the condemnation and other criticism expressed by many international non-governmental organisations.

Al Khabar: New elements appeared in the last report of the United Nations SG, presented last April to the Security Council, what raises the fears of a possible abandon of the Baker Plan, are these fears justified?

President Abdelaziz: What is more important in the decision of the UN Security Council, as you know, is that there was no attempt to bury the Baker plan in the Security Council’s decision. In the contrary it did not consider the chapter of the SG report on this specific part of it that recommended, in a way or another, the abandonment of the referendum. In addition, the Security Council resolution left the door wide opened to all alternatives and to many choices, including the Baker Plan.

Al Khabar: Now that the UN has clearly given proof on its incapacity to exercise pressures on Morocco to organise a referendum and resolve the conflict and parting from the support of Spain and France to the Moroccan manoeuvres, what is the next initiative of Polisario Front to get independence?

President Abdelaziz: The UN responsibility in the decolonisation of the Western Sahara remains a complete responsibility. The fact that it did not do what it should have done in terms of putting pressures on Morocco to subscribe to the UN Security Council’s decisions does absolutely not change anything in the fact that its responsibility remains complete in the question. Now, as far as Polisario Front is concerned, we work on three levels. One, we will continue the Intifadha of independence in the occupied territories to mobilise the international community and to compel the UN to assume its responsibilities. Second, we will always leave the door wide open to peace and will continue cooperating with the UN for the organisation of the referendum. Third, at the diplomatic level, we will keep on working to generate more international support.

Al Khabar: The positions of Spain and France are clear vis-à-vis the question, but what is the position of the USA?

President Abdelaziz: The position of the USA is positive, it supports the Baker Plan. The USA prefers that the people of the Western Sahara exercise their self-determination. It lately refused to approve the Free Trade Agreements with Morocco before erasing the chapter relative to the Saharawi territorial waters, stressing that no country in the world recognises the Moroccan sovereignty on the Saharawi territory.

Al Khabar: You recently participated to the Pan African Summit in Banjul, which was characterised by the positions of some African countries, what happened in the summit? And what is the meaning of the visit of Kofi Annan to Morocco in this period?

President Abdelaziz: The last summit drew the light on the situation of the Saharawi Republic through the report of the AU Secretary General, Alfa Omar Konaré. Under the lead of the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Benaissa, himself, who came to the Gambian capital, Banjul, accompanied by a diplomatic delegation, Morocco has undertaken all kinds of imaginable manoeuvres to convince some countries rise against us, without any success. They were expecting positive results out of the many years’ efforts they deployed to encourage voices to speak against us. But, instead, they collected a complete failure because the summit has unanimously adopted the report of the Executive Council regarding the question of the Western Sahara. 

Concerning the UN SG, Kofi Annan, we met in Banjul and he informed me about his visit to Morocco. He said that this visit did have absolutely no political aims, and that it was instead a technical stop for his plane to get fuel. But the Moroccan Government seized the opportunity to organise a reception on his honour to propagate within the public opinion some ideas that have nothing to do with the reality.

Al Khabar: The Consultative Council for the Western Sahara (CORCAS), which was designated by the Moroccan kingdom called on Polisario for dialogue, what is your answer to this call?

President Abdelaziz: The Saharawi-Moroccan conflict is already 31 years old. After all these years, the UN reached some undeniable conclusions, which were reached during the period of war but also in these years of peace. The first of these conclusions is that the Western Sahara question is a matter of uncompleted decolonisation. The second is that the parties to the conflict are Morocco and Polisario Front. Thus there is no place for any other party in this question. Morocco has attempted to create a third party, but its attempts failed to be surpassed by events after. As far as we are concerned, what they call the Consultative Council is no more than a Moroccan manoeuvre among many others and we will never dialogue with it under any kind of forms. On the other hand, I reiterate our willingness to dialogue with the Moroccan Government within the very clear framework of the UN and on the very precise basis of a self-determination referendum. And the fact that the UN is still seized by the question is a guarantee of the settlement of the conflict on the basis of the referendum.

Al Khabar: The Spanish Government recently granted 10,5 millions Euros sophisticated surveillance devices to the Moroccan royal army with a goal to face the illegal immigration: What do you think about this?

President Abdelaziz: We denounce the policy of blackmailing adopted by Morocco against Spain. The Moroccan Government make use of the question of illegal immigration and that of the three islands to exercise pressures on Spain so as to influence its position on the question (of the Western Sahara-Ed). We ask the Spanish Government to stop all forms of assistance that have a military aspect or any other support that help in buying arms, because Morocco will undoubtedly use it to strengthen its abilities in war and repression against the Saharawi population.

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