WESTERN SAHARA: Western Sahara residents hope peace talks with Rabat will bring them better future

Record ID: 349442

  • Title: WESTERN SAHARA: Western Sahara residents hope peace talks with Rabat will bring them better future
  • Date: 2nd May 2007
  • Summary: BILLBOARD DETAILING HOUSING PROJECT INFORMATION/ 'CAT' TRACTOR
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Western Sahara
  • Country: Western Sahara
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4898ZUK8WWKXGW18GC9SWENYZ
  • Story Text: Residents of the Western Sahara hope for a better future now that Morocco and the Polisario movement have agreed to U.N.-sponsored talks aiming to end their three-decade-old dispute over the territory. Residents of the Western Sahara hope talks Rabat and the Western Sahara independence movement have agreed to hold over the territory will improve their lives economically and socially, and reunited families separated for decades by the dispute over the former and culturally.
    Morocco and the Polisario movement agreed to U.N.-sponsored talks over the territory after the Security Council asked them on Monday (April 30) to negotiate an end to their three-decade-old dispute.
    The council urged talks without preconditions between Rabat and the Polisario movement in a unanimous resolution that also renewed the mandate of the 220-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the northwest African territory.
    Mohamed Taleb, member of the Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), hopes the process will bring about the reunification of families which have been separated for decades by the conflict in the former Spanish colony.
    "The programme of exchange of visits between Sahrawi families living apart showed that there is a need for those people to see their relatives and thus, this initiative came at the right time and satisfies the citizens' requests," he said.
    The council's move followed the submission to the United Nations by both Morocco and the Algeria-based Polisario of rival plans for the future of the territory, annexed by Morocco after Madrid pulled out in 1975.
    Morocco wants talks about self-rule for the territory under Moroccan sovereignty, but Polisario has demanded a referendum that would include the option of full independence.
    The resolution "calls upon the parties to enter into negotiations without preconditions in good faith ... with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara".
    It requested U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to set up the negotiations under his auspices and provide a report by June 30 on how they were progressing.
    Although a welcome initiative, some in the Western Sahara are of the opinion that it will need to deal with a number of difficult issues simultaneously if it is to succeed.
    "If this initiative brings solutions to the social, economic, political, cultural and legal problems of the local inhabitants, then it will be a factor for achieving security and stability in the area," said Mohamed Salem Cherkaoui, a civil activist.
    Morocco, which saw a vigourous campaign in Washington rewarded with a U.N. text that seemed warmer to its proposals than to Polisario's, hailed the outcome of the U.S. campaign.
    Polisario officials also claimed victory despite describing the resolution as unbalanced. The text hails Morocco's "serious and credible" efforts to end the long crisis while merely "taking note of" Polisario's proposals.
    Each side, however, defines self-determination in its own way. Rabat says letting Sahrawis vote on the result of autonomy talks would cover it. Polisario wants a referendum offering a choice of independence, autonomy or integration into Morocco.
    Mohamed Katab, a local journalist and a former detainee in the Polisario Front prison in Tindouf (South-west Algeria), said there were numerous power struggles between the various Sahrawi tribes, and predicted there may be confrontations and clashes between different tribes if the initiative is implemented without taking local cultural balances into consideration.
    "Here, we have a tribal society and each tribe likes to run local affairs in this area. They don't like to be ruled by other tribes and we may have confrontations and probably wars between different tribes. That is why it's essential to avoid such troubles," he said.
    Until now, the Security Council had not called for direct talks. One factor in its shift appeared to be pressure in Morocco's favour from Washington, concerned that the dispute was hampering the fight against Islamic militants in North Africa.
    Rabat has also been backed by traditional ally France, whose U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere praised Morocco for "creating a new dynamic". Polisario was supported in the Security Council by South Africa, which said it was shelving its concerns over the resolution to get the talks started.
    Western Sahara, larger than Britain but with a population of just 260,000, has lucrative phosphate reserves, rich fishing grounds and potentially oil.
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