MOROCCO: MOROCCO WELCOMES HOME LAST OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR HELD BY THE POLISARIO FRONT

Record ID: 208431

  • Title: MOROCCO: MOROCCO WELCOMES HOME LAST OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR HELD BY THE POLISARIO FRONT
  • Date: 18th August 2005
  • Summary: (BN1) AGADIR, MOROCCO (AUGUST 18, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF AIRPORT BUILDING AND PAN TO STREET 0.01 2. WIDE OF EXTERIOR AIRPORT ARRIVALS TERMINAL 0.18 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICHARD LUGAR, HEAD OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AT THE AMERICAN SENATE, SAYING: "Well I think it was a very good day for the United States but I would also say Algeria and Morocco. And we are excited about the progress in both Algeria and Morocco likewise, the work they are doing together. And we would like to see more of it and stronger ties." 0.37 4. WIDE OF UNITED STATES AIR PLANE 0.41 5. SLV LUGAR WELCOMING FREED POWS 1.06 6. VARIOUS OF SECURITY PERSONNEL AND FREED POWS WITH BAGS 1.28 7. WIDE OF FREED POWS WALKING OVER TO BUS 1.34 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AGADIR, MOROCCO
  • Country: Morocco
  • Reuters ID: LVA7KPVBGKIA117GAOH1SHWJIUN3
  • Story Text: Morocco welcomes last POWs from Polisario camps.




    Morocco welcomed home 404 prisoners of war on
    Thursday (August 18), the last of more than 2,400 to be
    freed after being held by Western Sahara's exiled Polisario
    Front independence movement, some for more than two decades.

    Two privately chartered planes carrying the prisoners,
    some of them more than 60 years old, landed in the southern
    city of Agadir, about 600 km (375 miles) from the Moroccan
    capital.

    State television showed the men wearing baseball caps
    and sports clothes and carrying sports bags rushing to
    buses after landing. Some knelt in prayer as soon as they
    left the plane.

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
    said the prisoners' release in Tindouf, southwest Algeria,
    followed U.S. mediation. They were captured by the
    Polisario in the guerrilla war sparked by Rabat's 1975
    annexation of the desert territory.

    The soldiers' return home could ease tension between
    Morocco and the Polisario's main backer Algeria, major
    nations in a region where the West wants stability because
    of fears it could be a source of Islamic militancy.

    A US delegation arrived at Agadir to welcome the POWs.

    Senator Richard Lugar, the head of the Foreign Affairs
    Committee at the senate, said that it is a very good day
    for everyone concerned. "And we are excited about the
    progress in both Algeria and Morocco likewise, the work
    they are doing together. And we would like to see more of
    it and stronger ties."
    The prisoners were taken to a military base in Agadir
    for medical checks before meeting their families.

    Like previous prisoner handovers, it was a relatively
    low-key affair. "There is no major plan for their arrival,"
    said one official source shortly before the planes landed.



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