Chahid El Hafed, 19/11/2006 (SPS) A first part of an Algerian humanitarian aid for the Saharawi refugees was handed over by the Algerian Minister for Employment and National Solidarity, Mr. Djamel Ould Abbas, to the authorities of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

 

This initiative comes within the framework of the solidarity of Algeria, which answered favourably to the plea launched by the Saharawi refugees living in difficult conditions since the end of the stocks of first need.

 

The Algerian delegation handed some 400 tons of semolina, brought by a caravan of 20 trucks that crossed more than 1800 km to reach the Saharawi refugees camps.

 

The Ministerial delegation, which was received in a first stage by the Saharawi Prime Minister, Mr. Abdelkader Taleb Omar, in company of the Wali of El Aaiun, Mr. Mansour Omar, the Minister for Health, Mr. Belahi Sid, in addition to the President of the Algerian Committee of solidarity with the Saharawi people, Mr. Mehrez El Amari, and the Wali of Tindouf, Bousabha, and other Saharawi and Algerian cadres, was also received by the population of the Wilaya in a warm popular meeting.

 

Speaking after speeches of the Saharawi Prime Minister and the Wali of El Aaiun, Mr. Ould Abbas, indicated "that this initiative of solidarity intervenes to help the populations of the refugee camps, basically children, women and old men". 

 

"On the occasion of its recent refugee camps, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) was able to see by his own eyes the difficult food situation", the Algerian Minister recalled affirming that "Algeria increases, in the coming days, the volume of these humanitarian aids waiting for the pursuit of the aid by the international organisations, which have considerably reduced their quotas".

 

The Algerian Ministerial delegation was received by the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, at the seat of the Presidency where it was invited to a luncheon with the presence of hundreds Saharawi personalities, international delegations present in the refuge camps and Medias.

 

In this occasion, Mr. Djamel Ould Abbas read a message from the President of the Algerian Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in which he reiterated the support of Algeria to the Saharawi people.

 

On his side, Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz hailed the Algerian support of the Saharawi Republic and of the Saharawi people’s legitimate struggle for self-determination. (SPS)

 

060/090/000/TRD 192040 Nov 06 SPS

 

 

up

 

Chahid El Hafed, 19/11/2006 (SPS) The President of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, reaffirmed this Sunday the total readiness of his Government and of Polisario Front for the finishing of the decolonisation of the Western Sahara on the basis of the strict respect of the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination through a referendum under the aegis of the UN.

 

In a speech he gave during a luncheon he offered on the honour of the Algerian Minister for Employment and National Solidarity, Mr. Djamel Ould Abbas, who is undertaking an official visit to the Saharawi refuge camps, Mr. Abdelaziz clearly declared that "the position of the Frente POLISARIO and the Government of the Saharawi Republic is firmly based on the need for bringing about the decolonisation of Western Sahara by means of respecting the right to self-determination».

 

"For that reason, we have expressed our readiness to cooperate with the United Nations on the basis of respect for these fundamental principles to implement what has been agreed on by the two parties to the conflict and approved by the Security Council, namely the UN-OAU Settlement Plan of 1991 and the peace plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, or Baker Plan", he indicated.

 

Whilst sounding the alarm once again " regarding the deterioration of food situation of the Saharawi refugees ", reiterating the appeals to the international community for an urgent intervention to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, The President of the Republic recalled "that the plight of the Saharawi refugees living now in the refugee camps is part of a peculiar situation resulting from the uncompleted decolonisation of the last colony in Africa and the injustice that has been inflicted on the whole Saharawi people since the start of the Moroccan occupation of their territory in 1975."

 

On another hand, he hailed Algeria for its indefectible support of Algeria to the Saharawi people’s cause, which is "a support for a decolonisation issue on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, which is considered annually by its IV Committee on Decolonisation. It is the same position that Algeria has determinedly taken, since its independence in the sixties, towards all decolonisation issues around the world".

 

He further expressed his happiness "to receive today a brotherly delegation from Algeria. This honourable delegation has brought humanitarian assistance destined for the Saharawi refugees following the instructions of H.E. Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and in response to the urgent appeal that was launched by the Saharawi Government and several humanitarian organisations regarding the risks of a possible famine amid these refugees as a result of the running out of the food stocks and the reduction of humanitarian aid provided by international humanitarian organisations".

 

 

Voila le texte intégral du discours:

 

 

" 

Speech of Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Saharawi Republic and Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO

Reception in honour of an Algerian solidarity delegation led by Mr. Jamal Ould Abbas, Minister of National Solidarity and Employment in the Algerian Government

19 November 2006

 

Mr. Jamal Ould Abbas, Minister of National Solidarity and Employment,

Members of the brotherly Algerian delegation,

Ladies and Gentlemen representatives of international and humanitarian organisations present with us today,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Indeed, it is a happy occasion and great honour for us to receive today a brotherly delegation from Algeria. This honourable delegation has brought humanitarian assistance destined for the Saharawi refugees following the instructions of H.E. Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and in response to the urgent appeal that was launched by the Saharawi Government and several humanitarian organisations regarding the risks of a possible famine amid these refugees as a result of the running out of the food stocks and the reduction of humanitarian aid provided by international humanitarian organisations.

 

This is not a new or unusual gesture from the sisterly Algeria, for it is another demonstration of the noble and courageous position that it had powerfully taken since the onset of the war that led to the military illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco in 1975.

 

It is the same principled, civilised and humanitarian position that the sisterly Algerian Government and people had taken upon the arrival of the first group of Saharawi refugees who were fleeing the genocide practices pursued by the Moroccan Government, which involved driving out and bombing Saharawi children, women and the elderly with the internationally banned Napalm and Phosphorus, assassination, kidnapping, and sweeping campaigns of detention amid Saharawi civilians. 

 

As always Algeria remained attached to its position of support for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence in consonance with the resolutions and dictates of international legality particularly resolution 1514 regarding the granting of independence to colonial peoples.

 

Algeria’s support for the Saharawi people is a support for a decolonisation issue on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, which is considered annually by its IV Committee on Decolonisation. It is the same position that Algeria has determinedly taken, since its independence in the sixties, towards all decolonisation issues around the world.

 

 

It is an unblemished position that is consistent with the content of the report of the UN Visiting Mission to Western Sahara and the ruling of the International Court of Justice, both issued 1975, which underlined the need for enabling the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

After more than thirty years, it is now well-known that the efforts of the international community to find a just solution that is concordant with the UN Charter and resolutions have been repeatedly thwarted by the Moroccan Government and some key powers in the Security Council that are trying to circumvent the only democratic solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, namely the self-determination referendum.

 

The Saharawi people are attached to their inalienable right. Any approach that tries to deprive this people from their right to make their sovereign choice in a free, democratic and transparent manner is a blatant attempt not only to disregard but also to override this right. The propagation of the so-called “autonomy” is an attempt to put the cart before the horse, because self-determination cannot be exercised by imposing a solution that overrides the very principle of self-determination.

 

The position of the Frente POLISARIO and the Government of the Saharawi Republic is firmly based on the need for bringing about the decolonisation of Western Sahara by means of respecting the right to self-determination. For that reason, we have expressed our readiness to cooperate with the United Nations on the basis of respect for these fundamental principles to implement what has been agreed on by the two parties to the conflict and approved by the Security Council, namely the UN-OAU Settlement Plan of 1991 and the peace plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, or Baker Plan.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Whilst sounding the alarm once again regarding the deterioration of food situation of the Saharawi refugees and renewing our appeal for urgent intervention, we would like to recall that the plight of the Saharawi refugees living now in the refugee camps is part of a peculiar situation resulting from the uncompleted decolonisation of the last colony in Africa and the injustice that has been inflicted on the whole Saharawi people since the start of the Moroccan occupation of their territory in 1975.

 

Exile and refuge is attendant on invasion and occupation, and the prolonging of this plight is due to the intransigence of the Moroccan Government and its blatant reneging on its international commitments and the encouragement it is receiving from certain quarters.

 

The attempt to use humanitarian aid as a means to exert political pressure on the Saharawi refugees through starvation and reduction of aid are taking place at the same time as brutal repression is persisting against Saharawi civilians who have been demonstrating peacefully in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, in particular since 21 May 2005.

 

The Moroccan colonial authorities that have so far assassinated two peaceful demonstrates, Hamdi Lembarki and Lekhlifi Abba Sheik, are sparing no effort to sow terror amid Saharawi population, whilst engaging in horrendous practices including not only torture, severe beating, disposing of victims in remote places but also putting pressure on Saharawi young people to leave their country and risk their lives in the Atlantic Ocean.These and others are serious violations witnessed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights ( UN   ONHCHR) in its report of September 8^th ,2006. 

 

The international community, through the United Nations, is called on to expedite the decolonisation of Western Sahara and to take all necessary and urgent measures to protect the Saharawi refugees from the risks of starvation. It is also called on to safeguard the rights of the Saharawi population in the Saharawi territories under Moroccan occupation; to ensure the release of all Saharawi prisoners of conscience, and the accounting for the fate of more than 500 disappeared civilians and 151 Saharawi POWs held by the Moroccan Kingdom; and to make sure, without delay, that the Saharawi people exercise their fundamental right to self-determination through a free, fair and just referendum.

 

Once again, I would like to welcome this chief Algerian delegation that has come to convey a noble message of solidarity to its brotherly Saharawi people. I would also like to express to them, and through them to the great brotherly Algerian people under the leadership of H.E. Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, our profound gratitude and many thanks for all those noble and historic positions taken in favour of right, law and respect for the dictates of international legality." (SPS)

 

060/090/000 192031 Nov 06 SPS 

 

up