July 2018

Dublin (Ireland), July 14, 2018 (SPS) - The Irish Senate on Wednesday approved a bill known as Occupied Territories Bill 2018, which classifies any import or export of goods from and to the occupied territories as a crime punishable by five years imprisonment or a fine of 250,000 euros, indicated a statement of the Polisario Front in the UK.
The bill, proposed by independent MP Frances Black, includes among others the occupied territories of Western Sahara, and will be soon presented to the Chamber of Deputies or Lower Chamber, the source added. 

Paris (France), July 12, 2018 (SPS) - The Sahrawi-French Center for Studies and Documentation, Ahmed Baba Maska, was established on Wednesday in Paris, in recognition of the great sacrifices made by the Sahrawi diplomat in the history of the Sahrawi people's just struggle for freedom and independence. .

Acireale (Italy), July 11, 2018 (SPS) - The Director and journalists of the Local Radio Station "Radio Etna Espresso", the largest in the city of Acireale, (Sicily), has received the small Saharawi ambassadors of peace, they are staying for a week in this city in the framework of the Vacation in Peace Program, sponsored by the associations of friends of the Saharawi people in Italy.

Bir-Lehlou, July 8, 2018 (SPS) -  President of Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has sent a congratulatory message to H.E Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Soudan, on the occasion of 7th anniversary of the Independence Day.

New York, July 8, 2018 (SPS)- The “historic” decision adopted unanimously by the leaders of the African Union (AU) on the creation of an African mechanism for the issue of Western Sahara is an “anticipatory initiative” likely to revitalize AU’s key role, as a fully-committed partner for the United Nations (UN),  and an “important step” considering the Moroccan position aimed at undermining the African efforts for the settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara, said Thursday the Polisario Front in a letter sent to the United Nations and the Security Council.

The UN Special Envoy Horst Khöler has recently visited the region of Western Sahara in order to gain a deeper understanding of the conflict. The Special envoy, after having visited the Saharawi Refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, arrived in the capital of Western Sahara, Layoune, on 28 June 2018. He toured the region until Sunday, 1 July 2018. In relation to the visit of the Special Envoy, repression against the Saharawi population and demonstrators calling for the right to self-determination have been growing.

London, July 7, 2018 (SPS)  – NGO Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) warned on Thursday the arrangements included by the European Commission to the EU-Morocco deal, including Western Sahara occupied territories. 
The Commission tries to misguide the Member States concerning the consultation process launched to "comply" with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in December 2016, which had rejected the inclusion of Western Sahara in the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.

Geneva, July 7, 2018 (SPS) – The ambassadors of 16 countries from the five continents called Thursday on the UN Human Rights Council to attach greater importance to the human rights situation in Western Sahara occupied cities.
The diplomats have also placed more emphasis on the need to support the report of the UN Envoy who assessed on the ground the Sahrawis’ conditions in the Refugee camps and in the occupied cities, in the absence of a solution to the Sahrawi question which would guarantee the people’s right to self-determination.

Vienna (Austria), July 5, 2018 (SPS) - The Austrian Saharawi Association (ÖSG) has appealed Morocco to respect human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara that witnessed brutal interventions by the Moroccan occupation forces against peaceful Saharawi demonstrators during the visit of the UN Special Representative, Horst Köhler.

Acireale (Italy), July  05, 2018 (SPS) - The mayor of Acireale, (Sicily), received, today, in his office, a group of Sahrawi children, the latter  have arrived to Italy within the framework of the Vacation Program for Peace, sponsored by the associations of friends of the Saharawi people in Italy.
The Mayor, accompanied by some of his advisers, welcomed the small ambassadors and assured them that in his prime council with the authorities of his municipality will deal with the Saharawi question and the forms of aid to the Saharawi people.

Bir Lehlou (liberated zones), July 05, 2018 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali has sent a letter of congratulation to the President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on the occasion of the 56nd anniversary of independence and youth day.

Nouakchott, July 05, 2018 (SPS) - Sahrawi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ould Salek affirmed that the 31st Summit of the African Union Heads of State and Government was a turning point in the handling of the Sahrawi issue, stressing that the summit marked “ the beginning of the countdown” for Morocco.

Bir-Lehlu, July 04, 2018 (SPS) -  President of the Republic Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali, has sent a congratulatory message to President of the United States Donald J. Trump, on the occasion of Independence Day on July 4.
“I write on behalf of the people of the Western Sahara to extend to you and to the American people our warmest congratulations upon the anniversary of the United States independence,” said the President of the Republic.

Bir Lehlou (Liberated Territories), July 3, 2018 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali, sent a congratulatory message to H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, on the occasion of the Liberation Day of this sister country.

Nouakchott, July 04, 2018 (SPS) - President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO Brahim Gali said that the Sahrawi people draw their strength from their fair cause, the legitimacy of their struggle and their legendary resistance in the face of the Moroccan occupier.

Nouakchott, July 04, 2018 (SPS) -The African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government on Monday adopted a decision to set up a mechanism supporting UN efforts to resolve the Sahrawi issue.

Nouakchott, July 03 ,  2018 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, has ended his visit to Mauritania during which he took part in the 31st Ordinary Session of the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union held in Nouakchott on 1 and 2 July.

Bilbao (Basque Country), July 03, 2017 (SPS) - The Saharawi Representative  in the Basque Country in coordination with the Saharawi Community and all the solidarity movement at Euskadi level, organized yesterday a rally in front of the Consulate of Morocco in Bilbao against the brutal repression of Sahrawi people by the Moroccan military and security forces in occupied Western Sahara.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “enough of repression and impunity, no to occupation, yes to independence and self-determination”

Nouakchott (Mauritania), July 2, 2018 (SPS) - Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Salem Ould Salek denounced Monday, in Nouakchott (Mauritania), the blocking by Morocco of the organization of the referendum on self-determination for the independence of Western Sahara.
“Morocco blocks, since 27 years, the organization of a referendum on self-determination for the independence of Western Sahara, which has an impact on peace and stability in the region,” he said in a press conference.

Nouakchott (Mauritania), July 2, 2018 (SPS) - The setting up of an African mechanism to enable the African Union to provide "efficient support" to the UN-led process, based on the UN Security Council resolutions, in order to reach self-determination of Western Sahara people has been recommended Sunday in Nouakchott by the AU Commission president Moussa Faki.
Faki made this recommendation in his report on Western Sahara question, APS obtained a copy on the occasion of the 31st Summit of the AU Heads of State and Government.