Category Archives: Political issues

UN calls bodies to boycott Crans Montana Forum in occupied Dakhla

7c8bcd9c2431012f9c48a2157a16ebf7_XLAlgeria Press Service, 14 February 2016

NEW YORK-The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Saturday called on all officials and UN bodies not to participate in the Crans Montana Forum, scheduled for March in the occupied city of Dakhla, Western Sahara.
The Saharawi President and Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, recently sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon, deplored the decision of the board of the Crans Montana Forum to hold its next edition in the occupied city of Dakhla. (cont.)

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Louise Gronkjaer reports on a bizarre conference staged by the king of Morocco as a PR exercise

Welcome to Dakhla – the pearl of the southern region of Morocco Philippe Maton/Flickr


Welcome to Dakhla – the pearl of the southern region of Morocco
Philippe Maton/Flickr

April 2015 – On Business Class to an Occupied City in the Desert

Louise Gronkjaer writes “A brand new conference hall in the middle of the desert. Hundreds of security guards to patrol every sand dune. And absolutely no good reasons to justify that the Moroccan king has spent thousands to fly me in. So why am I in Dakhla? …(cont.)”

Report on Dakhla conference >>

Western Sahara republic declares its exact Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

sadr_eez_610WSRW, Western Sahara Resource Watch, 6 March 2016

Upon the visit of the UN Secretary-General to the Saharawi refugee camps yesterday, the SADR Government deposited with Ban Ki-Moon – as the depositary of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea – the coordinates and charts of its exact EEZ claims.
“The coordinates and charts showing the EEZ outer limits will now be communicated to all UN member states trough their Permanent Missions in New York”, stated Frente Polisario in a press release.

WSRW report >>

Ban Ki-moon rejects Morocco criticism after Sahrawi refugees visit

1024x576_326695AfricaNews. 10/03 – 08:16

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday rejected Morocco’s criticism after his visit to the region to restart talks between Rabat and the Polisario Front over Western Sahara, claiming that his goal remained a priority. Mr. Ban visited Mauritania and a Sahrawi refugees camp in Algeria last week in the hope of shifting positions on the conflict that has lasted four decades.

Article in AfricaNews. >>

See also Yahoo!News report >>

UN Chief Arrives in Western Sahara as Talks in Crisis

Photo: Ariel Armeno

Photo: Ariel Armeno

March 4, 2016 · posted by Independent Diplomat in Blog

“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is set to arrive in Western Sahara tomorrow (Saturday 5 March) for the first visit of his tenure. The trip comes at a crisis point for UN talks on Western Sahara following Morocco’s refusal over the last three years to participate in any direct negotiations, its refusal to receive the UN Secretary-General during his current visit to the region, and its killing this week of a Saharawi civilian in the demilitarized buffer zone….(cont.)”

Independent Diplomat post >>

UN Secretary-General’s remarks to press following meeting with Secretary-General of the Polisario Front

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Off-the-Cuff, Rabouni, 5 March 2016

“I am honored to be able to visit here today. I had a very good meeting with Secretary-General [Mohamed] Abdelaziz and I would like to take this opportunity to express my most sincere thanks for their very kind welcome…..(cont.)”

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40 Years in, Western Sahara can count on Cuba & Latin America

Telesur Analysis, 26 February 2016

western_sahara_55.jpg_916636689Morocco’s military occupation of Western Sahara has become “morally indefensible,” a leading Sahrawi rights activist told teleSUR Saturday.  The Moroccan occupation is sapping the Western Saharan territory of its natural resources while subjecting the Indigenous population, the Sahrawi to widespread human rights abuses, according to campaigner Cate Lewis.  (…cont.)

Telesur Analysis report >>