THE SAHARAWI WOMEN HAVE A LOT OF HOPE IN THE RECENT PEACE-TALKS

The Saharawi Women and the great majority of the people of Western Sahara have a lot of hope in the very Peace-Talks that has taken place in the Austrian city of Duernstein between the two belligerant in the conflict of the last colony in the african continent: Morocco and POLISARO Front (liberation movement recognized all over the world as thesole representative of the people of Western Sahara).
Polisario Front and Morocco have agreed to the publication of statement, read to the press by Christopher Ross concluding the meeting between the two parties in the Austrian town of Duernstein, on August 10 and 11, that the Polisario Front and Morocco have renewed their determination to continue negotiations as soon as possible.The discussions took place only between the delegations of Polisario Front and Morocco and covered the assessment of rounds of negotiations in Manhasset, how to implement resolution 1871 of the Security Council and confidence measures, which are fundamental issue of human rights.

These discussions took place in "an atmosphere of sincere commitment, openness and mutual respect", according to the statement.
Both parties in conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco reiterated their determination to continue negotiations as soon as possible, and the personal Envoy will fix the date and venue of the next meeting in consultation with the parties, the same source added.

Delegations of neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, were also present at the opening and closing sessions and were consulted separately during the talks.

Following these meetings, the United Nations Secretary General Personal Envoy, Mr. Christopher Ross and delegations would like to thank the Government of the Republic of Austria for its generous hospitality.

The british newspaper "The Guardian" has just published a very interesting article written by the Saharawi Leader, Emhamed Khaddad. Under the tittle of "We seek no revenge – only Peace" the also Saharawi Coordinator with MINURSO says in his article:
The people of Western Sahara stand prepared to engage with Morocco and to enter open discussions about our joint future.A new round of talks between the kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front of Western Sahara are under way in Vienna, Austria. These talks, characterised as informal by the personal envoy of the UN secretary general, Christopher Ross, are the latest attempt to bring peace and security to Western Sahara and to the wider Maghreb region.

We enter them with an unwavering and genuine commitment to finding a just, mutually acceptable and democratic solution. Will our Moroccan counterparts adopt the same approach?In every circumstance, peace comes at a cost. Somehow, somewhere, there must be a compromise and someone, generally everyone, must be prepared to search for common ground and to yield to the higher ideals found there. For the people of Western Sahara, the price of peace is high. We have been occupied for over three decades, following an illegal annexation by the Moroccan kingdom. We have seen our natural resources become unethical trade boons to the Moroccan economy while our people languish in refugee camps, unable, or too afraid, to return home.Yet, rather than seek to exercise a sense of revenge or frustration, we stand prepared to engage with Morocco and to enter open discussions about our joint future. This is long-established policy. In our statement to the UN security council in 2007, we stated we would guarantee "the rights and obligations of the Moroccan population in Western Sahara". We also put on the public record that our readiness "to participate with Morocco and the countries of the region in the maintenance of peace, stability and security for the whole region.

"The people of Western Sahara remain committed to the self-determination process initiated by the UN nearly 50 years ago, and have backed ever since via various resolutions and statements. For instance, we recall the security council resolved in 2002 to express "its readiness to consider any approach which provides for self-determination". It is not clear how or where Morocco’s proposal for autonomy within the Moroccan state fits in with this basic agenda.

A unilateral solution to a three-decade-long conflict, as is proposed by Morocco, is not only farcical, it is an option the community of democratic nations cannot countenance.The people of Western Sahara have been clear that we are willing to work with the Moroccan monarchy and will act without recrimination in relation to Moroccans now living in Western Sahara. We are aware we do not choose our neighbours and so we are destined to share a border. This is a form of realpolitik that makes sense at all levels. We do not seek any victories over Morocco, we only seek parity. We aim to co-operate in economic and security matters, as any decent neighbour would be expected to do.For Morocco, the benefits of good relations with a free and democratic Western Sahara are immense.

The massive costs of its military occupation have been estimated at 3% of Morocco’s GDP. Analysts suggest the military costs in keeping some 150,000 troops in the occupied territories alone is over $153bn (£92.3bn) since 1975, or around $12m (£7.2m) for every day it has occupied Western Sahara. As a result of this extraordinary outlay, Morocco has the world’s fifth highest proportional spend on its military. Moreover, the long-touted Maghreb union, which has faltered for decades on the back of the Western Saharan dispute, would at last be free of this considerable obstacle to better relations.

Quite apart from the damaging moral position Morocco maintains in Western Sahara, ending this money drain must surely be a priority for Rabat and its often impoverished people, as must the prospect of awakening the sleeping giant of North African economic unity. The UN’s way is the only way forward. A referendum on self-determination, a fundamental mechanism for all UN-mandated colonies – as Western Sahara is – is the only viable means of engendering anything like a sustainable common ground. The future of the Sahrawi people must be in their own hands, not in any institution and it is certainly not the right of an invading power, maintaining an illegal and unjust regime.

As we enter these talks we favour the open-palm approach of US president Barack Obama. We are willing to pay the price of peace as an investment in our future. That is our stated agenda going into the Vienna talks. The people of Western Sahara deserve nothing less from us, for it is peace and freedom we crave most of all.

INTERESTING CONFERENCE VIA SATELITE ON THE ROOTS OF THE WESTERN SAHARA CONFLICT

Via an Internet connection from California, US, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, Sahrawi researcher and specialist in peace studies and conflict resolution, presented today a paper at the conflict resolution course organised by the UK-based organisation, Talk Together, in Oxford. Students from different countries participated in the session.

Entitled “Mapping of the Conflict in Western Sahara”, the paper presents a roadmap of the conflict in Western Sahara by analysing its history and context, primary parties, core issues and the positions and interests of the parties involved as well as the conflict dynamics.

In determining the nature of the conflict, Dr. Sidi Mohamed made it clear that the “conflict in Western Sahara is not a societal, communal, ethnic, religious or class conflict. Rather, it is an international conflict of a political nature, and a decolonisation issue that has been on the list of the United Nations since the 60s”.
In his analysis of the root causes of the conflict, Dr. Sidi Mohamed underlined that the direct, structural cause that underlies the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, the sole and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, is Morocco’s military invasion and annexation of the territory in 1975.

The origins of this action, however, lie in the expansionist ideology of the “Greater Morocco” and the subsequent territorial claims that the Moroccan regime has laid on its neighbours. In conclusion, Dr. Sidi Mohamed made it very clear that a peaceful, just and lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara necessarily entails the exercise by the Sahrawi people of their internationally recognised right to self-determination through a negotiated, democratic and free process in keeping with international law and practice.

“In this process, they could decide their political future, either to be independent, integrate into Morocco or settle for another arrangement. In any case, the final word should be theirs”, he added. He also argued that the success of the UN-led negotiation process would depend not only on achieving a mutually acceptable solution in line with international legality, but also on the ability of the two parties to think seriously about their relations in the post-conflict context.

This process of cooperative thinking will imply, among other things, determining the mutual guarantees in all vital areas, which each party will be willing to grant to the other with a view to achieving not only a win-win solution, but also one that will address the core issues around which the conflict has developed. “The proposal presented by the Frente POLISARIO to the UN in April 2007 contains key elements to be considered in this regard”, concluded Dr. Sidi Mohamed. Despite significant resistance, an innovative conflict resolution course has launched in Oxford last Thursday 6. Students from nine different countries embarked on the intensive immersion course, without two groups of students who were prevented from travelling from Morocco on Wednesday. Students from the disputed territory of Western Sahara were stopped at Agadir airport in Morocco on Wednesday. They stayed there to protest at the block on their journey and embarked on a hunger strike. On Thursday around 18.00 local time they were forcibly removed from the airport and transported in a convoy of police cars, passing through to Gulmin 200km south at 20:30, and on to El Aaiun where they were taken to a police station, interrogated and intimidated.

Their mobile phones had previously been removed, and they were questioned about their contacts and messages. They were also asked about their involvement in Talk Together, and motivation for taking part.The students chose to go to the family home of Rabab Amidane, winner of Norway Students’ Peace Prize earlier this year.

Their supporters met them with slogans, to which the police objected. The latest information is that the students are in the house, which is surrounded by police. Another group of students, from Morocco itself, has also been unable to travel. According to the Moroccan embassy in London, the group of seven students suddenly all developed “family problems” immediately prior to boarding the flight, which prevented them from travelling to Oxford.