[A-List] Western Sahara: West Continues To Betray Africa's Last Colony

["tony black" <tal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: Stop NATO
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 11:25 PM
Subject: [stopnato] Western Sahara: West Continues To Betray Africa's Last 
Colony


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/21/news/UN-GEN-UN-Western-Sahara.php

Associated Press
April 20, 2007

Security Council "enthusiastic" about negotiations on
Western Sahara, council president says

-Morocco and Mauritania split [invaded] Western Sahara
after its Spanish colonizers left the territory in
1975. Full-scale war broke out the following year, and
Morocco took over the whole of Western Sahara after
Mauritania pulled out in 1979.
-The fighting, which pitted 15,000 Polisario
guerrillas against Morocco's U.S.-equipped army, ended
in 1991 with a U.N.-negotiated cease-fire that called
for a referendum on the region's future. But the vote
has never happened.
-South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo
recalled that the Polisario Front was a founding
member of the Organization of African Unity, and its
successor the African Union, which view the Western
Sahara as still in a process of decolonization.
"We made it very clear that autonomy is not
self-determination," Kumalo said....

UNITED NATIONS - Members of the U.N. Security Council
enthusiastically support negotiations between Morocco
and Polisario Front rebels on the future of the
long-disputed Western Sahara region, the council
president said.

Last week, Morocco proposed that the mineral-rich
territory govern itself while remaining part of the
North African kingdom, while the Polisario reiterated
its demand for a referendum that would offer Saharawis
a choice of autonomy or independence from Morocco.

In a report to the council this week,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended that members
call on Morocco and the Polisario "to enter into
negotiations without preconditions, with a view to
achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable
political solution that will provide for the
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara."

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, the
current council president, told reporters after a
closed-door meeting Friday that "the members of the
council are enthusiastic that there should be
negotiations between the parties."

He said there are questions about what the basis of
those negotiations should be, but he expects council
experts to work out the text of a resolution that
would address the issue and extend the mandate of the
U.N. mission in Western Sahara within the next eight
days.

Morocco and Mauritania split Western Sahara after its
Spanish colonizers left the territory in 1975.
Full-scale war broke out the following year, and
Morocco took over the whole of Western Sahara after
Mauritania pulled out in 1979.

The fighting, which pitted 15,000 Polisario guerrillas
against Morocco's U.S.-equipped army, ended in 1991
with a U.N.-negotiated cease-fire that called for a
referendum on the region's future. But the vote has
never happened.

After 15 years and more than $600 million, the U.N.
has been unable to resolve the standoff between the
Polisario Front and the Moroccan government. The
current mandate of the 225-member U.N. mission in
Western Sahara expires on April 30.

Jones Parry said "there is common ground" that the
mission should be extended, but the length is still
being discussed.

Britain believes that renewal of the mandate "should
help a process of negotiation between the parties
directly so that that would lead to an involvement
process of self-determination," he said.

South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo
recalled that the Polisario Front was a founding
member of the Organization of African Unity, and its
successor the African Union, which view the Western
Sahara as still in a process of decolonization.

"We made it very clear that autonomy is not
self-determination," Kumalo said, stressing that
independence must be an option in any resolution of
the dispute.

===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
stopnato-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
==============================

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format 
to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group
SPONSORED LINKS
Military computer financing
Military lawyer
North atlantic treaty organization
2008 Election
For President
Who are the
contenders?
Find Deals
Yahoo! Shopping
Compare prices and
find great discounts.
Yahoo! Movies
Up for a movie?
Check out the
new releases..
__,_._,___