Madrid, 23/07/2006 (SPS) The Minister delegated to Europe, Member of the POLISARIO Front’s National Secretariat, Mr. Mohamed Sidati, affirmed that regarding the conflict of the Western Sahara the international community is "more than ever interpellated" to implement its own resolutions "and prevails the law over the power and the fait accompli".

Undertaking a visit to the Spanish capital on Friday to animate a conference on the Saharawi question within the framework of the summer classes organised by the autonomous University of Madrid, Mr. Sidati underlined that the international community must assume its responsibilities, in a statement to the Algerian Press Service, APS.

In front of the "implacable repression" Morocco exercise towards the Saharawi population in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, its "reiterated refusal" to abide by the international legality and its "obstructionism", the international community must react on a double level: put an en to this repression, which "is taking the shape of a silent genocide", and "to bring back to the right path the process of peace by demanding and by engaging in the implementation of the UN resolutions", the Saharawi diplomat stressed.

"The solution to the conflict must be based on the implementation of these resolutions that were adopted and on which there is an international consensus, mainly the Settlement Plan and the Plan for the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara, also famous as the Baker Plan, which were adopted and endorsed by the UN Security Council and General Assembly", he noted.

In this respect, the Saharawi official reaffirmed that "any proposition (of solution) outside the right to self-determination, outside the international legality and the Peace Plan is simply unacceptable, null and void".

Mr. Sidati underlined that the Saharawi people, "though naturally attached to a peaceful solution to the conflict, through political means, are also naturally attached to their rights that they are determined to defend if the international community declares its impotence".

Concerning the "plan of autonomy" proposed by Morocco for the Western Sahara, the Polisario Front’s representative to Europe denounced the strategy of obstruction adopted by Rabat. At a first time Morocco "blocked the UN process (of settlement), then it "tried to empty the process of decolonisation in the Western Sahara from its real content and to turn it away from its normal course".

"How is it possible that in a decolonisation process, which solution consists in the implementation of the right to self-determination, can we replace this right with a so-called solution which is no more than an attempt to legitimise, between inverted comas, an illegal occupation and a fait accompli?", he wondered.

He recalled that the Western Sahara, according to the international law, is a Non-Self-Governing territory that falls under this same right (to self-determination). According to the opinion of the International Court of Justice, Morocco "has no right of sovereignty" over this territory.  

"Morocco can propose an autonomy for the Rif or the Atlas but not for the Western Sahara because Rabat does not have any administrative power, nor does it have sovereignty over the territory", Mr. Sidati added.

"Autonomy is categorically rejected by the Saharawi people as well as by the rest of the world", The Saharawi official said, calling that the UN Secretary General affirmed in his last report that "no country in the world recognises to Morocco the sovereignty over the Western Sahara".

Regarding the position of Spain, the Saharawi diplomat noted that this country is "a part of the problem", if its status as ex-colonial power of the Western Sahara is considered, and assumes a "big responsibility" in the tragedy of the Saharawi people.

"Regardless its position within the European Union, Spain can play a positive role in the promotion of a solution that is conform with the international legality and on the basis of the right to the self-determination", he indicated.

"Unfortunately, he added, we note these last years that the Spanish attitude privileged the relations with Morocco to the detriment of its responsibilities in the question of the Western Sahara".

"What is especially preoccupying is this unilateral vision of a stability that passes, unavoidably, via Morocco, and which  which is in a way steady, and which supports the policy of force and expansionism, entails the maintenance of tension, a policy to the determinant of the stability of the entire region", he declared.

"A real stability is that one that takes in charge and in consideration the stability of all the countries of the region, all its peoples, including the Saharawi people", Mr. Sidati stressed.

This "unilateral vision that closes the eyes on the behaviour of Morocco leads nowhere, except to the impasse and the prolongation of the conflict", he warned.

Concerning the "direct negotiations between Morocco and the POLISARIO Front to which some actors are calling, Mr. Sidati stressed that the negotiations had already taken place under the auspices of the United Nations and had conclusions".

"There have been the Settlement Plan, the Houston Accords, the Peace Plan, all of which were the object of a process of negotiations. What is serious is that in the mind of some parties, maybe, the direct negotiations are an alternative to the international resolutions, to the Settlement Plan the Peace pan, and thus for them it is a manner of sending us back to the point of departure", he underlined.

"What is required from the Spanish and French Governments is to demand the implementation of the accords, of what was accepted by the two parties to the conflict (Morocco and POLISARIO-Ed) mainly the Settlement Plan, and to respect the engagements", he underlined.

"To speak about direct negotiations is an addition to the confusion. Spain, in this respect, is far from been clear or firm vis-à-vis Morocco", he concluded. (SPS)

010/090/700/TRD 231054 JUL 06 SPS