SAHARA PRESS SERVICE

SPS SADR/SOUTH AFRICA The President of the Republic felicitates Thabo Mbeki for the recognition of SADR by South Africa 20.09.04

Bir Lehlu, 20/09/2004 (SPS) The President of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, addressed Monday a message of felicitation to his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, estimating that this initiative of recognising SADR and establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries will increase international pressures on Morocco to compel it abide by international legality and organise a referendum on self-determination of the Saharawi people.

Here is the original text of the message.

"H.E. Mr. Thabo Mbeki,
President of the Republic of South Africa,

Bir Lehlou, 18th September 2004

Excellency,

On behalf of the people and Government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and on my own behalf, I would like to extend to your Excellency and to the brotherly people of the Republic of South Africa our most sincere greetings and best wishes.

Excellency,

Peoples around the world had always looked, with great awe and pride, to the heroic and resolute struggle that the people of South Africa were waging, under the banner of the African National Congress (ANC), against the Apartheid and all forms of oppression that deprived people of their intrinsic rights to self-determination, freedom and dignity.

For the Saharawi people, the resounding victory gained by South Africa constituted not only a turning over of a dark page of the modern history of your country, but also a triumph of justice and of the ideals of freedom and democracy in the world. 

As a political and economic power, South Africa has been playing a great role at the continental level, which has deservedly earned the country, under your wise leadership, a prominent standing on the African and international arena. The country has been moving steadily towards achieving higher standards of progress and prosperity, while setting an example of a veritable “rainbow nation”, where all racial, religious, ethnic and cultural differences co-exist in a climate of democracy and respect for fundamental human rights. All these tremendous efforts have always been guided by a steadfast attachment to the sacred principles and noble values for which the devoted South Africans had sacrificed their lives, led by the symbol of freedom, Mr. Nelson Mandela.

The establishment of the African Union (AU), of which the Durban Summit was a main milestone, is one of the most important achievements in the contemporary history of our continent, which will certainly contribute to the realisation of the aspirations of our peoples for freedom, development, peace and stability.

31st October 1975, which marks the Moroccan military occupation of our country, gave rise to an unprecedented human tragedy in Africa of which dire consequences are still felt to date. The fact that half of our people still live in exile in refugee camps, whereas another half has been subjected to the yoke of occupation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara is just a case in point. However, the Saharawi people will always remain attached to their legitimate goals, while drawing their inspiration from other peoples’ struggles, particularly the heroic struggle of the people of South Africa.

The Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara was a blatant and serious violation of the dictates of international legality and an illegal use of force that was widely condemned, and which led the international community to affirm its principled position of not recognising any sovereignty of Morocco over the occupied Western Sahara. This position remains strongly buttressed by the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in October 1975, and the legal pinion of the UN Office of Legal Affairs delivered in February 2002, as well as by the refusal of the international community to trade with Morocco outside of its internationally recognised borders, as the US Trade Representative made clear in July this year.

Since the sixties, the United Nations has incessantly been reiterating, in its successive resolutions related to Western Sahara, that the question at hand is a decolonisation issue that should be settled by means of a referendum on the self-determination of the Saharawi people, reaffirming thus the legitimacy of the struggle waged by our people for their right to freedom and independence.

Excellency,

Allow me to recall the tireless efforts deployed by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in this regard. As you are aware, the OAU had always played a great leading role in settling conflicts and putting end to wars and in bringing the decolonisation process in Africa to its successful conclusion. The admission by the OAU of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1984, as its 51 member, was a clear indication of the attachment of Africa to international legality and to the principles enshrined in the OAU Charter, particularly those related to self-determination and the inviolability of colonial borders. It was also a strong expression of Africa’s denunciation of the colonial situation in Western Sahara, as an illegal military occupation. 

It is also noteworthy that it was the tremendous efforts undertaken by the OAU and its perseverance that laid the foundations of the UN/OAU Settlement Plan, which was signed by the two parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO in 1988, and subsequently approved by the Security Council in 1990. 

Excellency,

Together with all world nations, we had great hope that Morocco’s acceptance of the provisions of the Settlement Plan was promoted by good intention and a genuine will to bring the plan to its successful conclusion, namely the referendum on self-determination, whereby the Saharawi people would choose between independence and integration into the Kingdom of Morocco.  

It was this hope that led us, throughout the past thirteen years, to co-operate constructively with the United Nations and to make a series of concessions, which had eventually enabled the UN Identification Commission to publish, in 2000, the provisional list of the persons entitled to vote in the referendum.

Nevertheless, contrary to its commitments under the Settlement Plan and Houston Agreements, which were concluded with us under the auspices of Mr. James Baker III, as the then UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, the Moroccan Government would surprise everyone with a volt-face in its position, which manifested in a blatant attitude of obstruction and procrastination. In this sense, disregarding the warnings issued by the Security Council, it proceeded to violate the Protocols related to the appeals process, which were concluded under the aegis of the United Nations, by inundating the UN Identification Commission with an interminable list of alleged appeals.

As a result, the world has ever since been witness to the sheer lack of political will on the part of the Moroccan side and its disrespect for the dictates of the UN/OAU Settlement Plan, particularly those related to the respect for our people’s right to self-determination and independence.

We have however continued to co-operate with the UN Secretary-General and his former Personal Envoy. It was against this backdrop of continuous co-operation and good will that we accepted the latest plan proposed by Mr. James Baker III, which was unanimously approved by the Security Council in its resolution 1495. Our position was prompted by both our hope that the Moroccan regime would submit to international legality, and by our will to establish peace in the region, and thus to bring the decolonisation of Western Sahara to its successful conclusion.

As spelled out in the response of the Moroccan Foreign Ministry dated 9th April 2004 and the statements made by the King himself on several occasions, the present Moroccan position vis-à-vis “the Peace Plan for Self-determination of the People of Western Sahara” seems to differ at least from the official position taken early with regard to the UN/OAU Settlement Plan and Houston Agreements. This time, Morocco declared openly its disengagement from the peace process and thus its reneging on all its early commitments under the plan, as well as its rejection of any settlement plan that would not legitimate its illegal occupation of Western Sahara.

This arrogant and disrespectful attitude clearly shows how Morocco has chosen wittingly to turn its back on the UN Charter and the Security Council resolutions, while exhibiting its contempt for international community and for the principles of self-determination and decolonisation.

While expressing our great regret at Mr. James Baker’s resigning his post as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, we are expecting from the international community to take all measures needed to exert all necessary pressure on the Moroccan Government in order to compel it to abide by international legality. It is clearly unjustifiable that a will of a colonial expansionist power, such as the Moroccan Kingdom, is allowed to impose itself on a collective, legitimate and enlightened will as that of the international community.

This new Moroccan attitude does bear witness to what we had already stated, when President Nelson Mandela chose not to go forward with the decision of recognising the SADR, to the effect that the Moroccan argument at that time was merely a manoeuvre aimed at thwarting the recognition process. The years that followed did however bear out clearly the genuine intention on the part of the Government of South
Africa to search for a just solution to the conflict in accordance with the dictates of international legality and the principles enshrined in the UN and the OAU Charters and in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, a solution that would contribute to furthering peace and stability in our continent.

The good intention with which your country responded to the suggestions ventured by some quarters,  including particularly Morocco, and your noble efforts did no deserve to be met by such a disappointing reaction from the Moroccan Government.

Excellency,

Your historic and courageous decision to announce officially the recognition by the Republic of South Africa of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level is a logical decision consistent with your country’s being member of the African Union, which assumes decolonisation as one of its top priorities. It is also in keeping with your history, values and principles and with the logic of established facts, and is in no way discordant with the international efforts to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara, given that the Saharawi side has already expressed its readiness to implement the peace plan.

The recognition also constitutes an act of legitimate defence of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is the effective embodiment of the legitimate aspirations of the Saharawi people for freedom and independence, as cherished by other nations in Africa and the world.

Whilst affirming our attachment to the “Peace Plan for Self-determination of the People of Western Sahara”, proposed by Mr. James Baker, the Government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO would like to express to your Excellency our full readiness to co-operate constructively with any efforts to be deployed by your country with a view to seeking all together, with all candour and sincerity, to enable the Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination without any constraints of any kind, and under free, transparent and democratic conditions.

This is definitely the only avenue that may lead to removing the shame from our continent, which is symbolised by the occupation of an African country by another African country in the twenty-first century, and thus to establishing peace and stability in the Maghreb so that the region may be able to steadily embark on its development path together with the other African regions.

We are also fully confident that this particularly important move will usher us all in a new era of strengthening and diversifying the relations of friendship and co-operation existing between our two brotherly peoples and countries, in the best interest of peace and progress in our continent and throughout the world.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz,
President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic,
Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO". (SPS)

060/090/100 201100 SEPT 04 SPS