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(Special Envoy)
Sirte (Libya), 26/02/2004 (SPS) The President of the Republic,
Mohamed Abdelaziz, arrived Thursday evening to Sirte, to take part to
the 2nd African Union's (AU) extraordinary summit, which is taking
place on Friday and Saturday to discuss crucial questions of water,
agriculture and continent's common
defence.
The head of state was received in Sirte's international airport by
general of brigade, Aboubeker Younes Jaber, Libian minister of
defence and Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of African
Commission, besides of Polisario Front's representative to Libya,
Melainine Etghana.
Attended by more than 30 heads of governments, Sirte's summit have to
study, on Friday, a document entitled ''Sirte's declaration on the
challenges of integrated and durable development of agriculture and
water in Africa'', prepared by AU's Executive Council.
A question that preoccupy the continent, especially that a report of
UN's world programme for the evaluation of water resources has noted
that Africa, containing 12% of the world's population have only 9% of
the planet's fresh water at disposal.
The summit will also have to debate, this Saturday, on common African
defence and security policy, decided by the Constitutive Act of AU
during Durban's summit in 2002.
The Saharawi Presidential delegation to this AU's 2nd extraordinary
summit is composed of Foreign Affairs' Minister, Mohamed Salem Ould
Salek, and the Minister of Defence, Mohamed Lamine Bouhali. (SPS)
010/090/SRT/TRD 262357 Feb 04 SPS
SPS
SADR/AUSTRIA/SOLIDARITY
Austrian Parliament calls to the enforcement of Baker's plan for the
self-determination of Saharawi People
Vienna,
26/02/2004 (SPS) The Austrian Parliament adopted, on Wednesday, a
resolution calling to the implementation of the Baker's plan for the
self-determination of the Saharawi People, conforming to the Security
Council's resolution 1495 adopted on July 2003.
This resolution ''energetically''supports the Baker's plan for the
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara and exhorts
Austrian Federal Government to ''make use of all its weight to impose
Saharawi People's right to self-determination''.
The Parliament asked for an efficient commitment of the European
Union (EU) towards the implementation of the Baker's plan and ''the
respect of human rights in Western Sahara's occupied territories, as
well as the release of Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan
prisons''.
On her part, the Foreign affairs minister, Ferrero Waldner, hailed
this resolution, unanimously adopted by all Austrian parties,
underlining that ''Saharawi question is not forgotten''.
She indicated, in addition, that ''the Baker's plan, recently
proposed to the parties to the conflict, remains the only liable path
to guarantee Saharawi People's right to self-determination'',
deploring that ''Morocco still continue rejecting it''. (SPS)
030/090/596/TRD 261730 Feb 04 SPS
SPS
SADR/ICRC/PRISONERS OF WAR
ICRC welcomes the release of 100 Moroccan POWs by Polisario Front
Geneva, 26/02/2004 (SPS) The ICRC welcomed the liberation, by
Polisario, of 100 Moroccan POWs, repatriated on Tuesday to Morocco
under the auspices of this organisation, and Qatar's mediation that
resulted in their release, on February the 13th.
''Accompanied by an ICRC team, the prisoners left Tindouf, Algeria,
aboard an aircraft provided by Qatar and were handed over to the
Moroccan authorities at the Inezgane military base, near Agadir'',
specified the organisation's communiqué.
ICRC recalled that before the operation, the delegates had
interviewed the prisoners ''individually to make sure that they were
being repatriated of their own free will''.
''ICRC delegates visit the prisoners twice a year. The purpose of
these visits, the latest of which took place between 2 and 16
December 2003, is to assess conditions of detention and developments
in the prisoners' physical and psychological health'', concluded the
communiqué.
It should be recalled that more than 2000 Moroccan prisoners of war
were captured during the fights that opposed the Saharawi fighters to
the Moroccan forces of occupation since the military invasion of the
Saharawi territory in 1975. Some 1743 among them were unilaterally
released, by Polisario Front, in purely humanitarian initiatives,
well appreciated by the international organisations and
observers.
Morocco still holds more than 150 Saharawi prisoners and continues
refusing to account for more than 500 disappeared, registered by the
Association of the Families of Saharawi Prisoners and Disappeared
(AFAPREDESA). (SPS)
010/090/667/TRD
261126 Feb 04 SPS
SPS
SADR/UN/PRISONERS OF WAR
Kofi Annan hails Polisario Front's release of the 100 Moroccan
POWs
New York (United Nations) (26/02/2004) UN's Secretary General,
Kofi yAnnan, hailed, on Tuesday, the release by Polisario Front of
the 100 Moroccan POWs, repatriated at the same day to Morocco under
the auspices of ICRC and Qatar, the latter having had interceded with
Polisario for the release of this group.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York, Mr. Annan
urged the parties ''to continue to cooperate with the ICRC to resolve
the fate of all those unaccounted for since the beginning of the
conflict", expressing his hope that ''Polisario Front would quickly
release all of its remaining prisoners of war''.
The European Union had hailed on February the 17th, the release, by
the Polisario Front, of this 100 Moroccan POWs last 13th February, as
a response to the request of Qatar, calling Morocco and Polisario
Front '' to consider their obligations with respect to the
humanitarian consequences of the conflict'' and to implement the
Baker's plan for self-determination of Saharawi People.
(read
more).
In a communiqué, the Irish chairmanship of the EU expressed
its '' support'' to the resolution of the UN calling Morocco and the
Polisario Front to ''cooperate for the research of persons who
disappeared '' since the beginning of the conflict, reiterating the
hope of ''progress in the political aspects to the conflict'', and
its '' firm support to the UN's Secretary General , Kofi Annan, and
his personal envoy, James Baker, for their efforts aiming at
guaranteeing a durable solution to the conflict''
On its part, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western
Sahara (MINURSO) had expressed its satisfaction with the release of
these Moroccan POWs. (read
MINURSO's response).
Polisario Front had announced, last February the 13th, the release of
100 Moroccan POWs at a request of Qatar. A new group that arises to
1.743 the total number of these prisoners, captured during the fights
that opposed Moroccan colonial forces to the Saharawi fighters, since
the beginning of the Moroccan military invasion of the Saharawi
territory in 1975. (read
more)
It should be recalled that Polisario Front had released some 300
Moroccan POWs, last November, at a request of Libya and 200 others,
in two groups, the same year at a request from Spanish Government.
(SPS)
010/090/667/TRD
261050 Feb 04 SPS
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SAHARA PRESS SERVICE