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Saturday, 14 November 2009

Arab political parties slam self-rule in Western Sahara

Posted on 16:32 by google


APA-Rabat (Morocco) About one hundred Arab political parties meeting in the Syrian capital denounced separatism, calling it “destructive” referring in particular to Western Sahara whose “Moroccanness” the Polisario Front is disputing since late 1975, the Moroccan press said on Saturday .

The fifth congress of Arab political parties, which ended on Friday in Damascus, said that “the separatist calls” are aimed at “tearing apart the Arab nation.”

The congress, which was founded in 1996, has not failed to express its support to Morocco to also recover “all its occupied territories,” referring particularly to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco, colonized since 1497 by Spain.

The Arab support strengthens the endorsement of most of the international community regarding Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, which is deemed as the “only conceivable solution” to end the 34-year old conflict.

However, the Polisario is, on its side, claiming a self-rule referendum which is described as “unenforceable” and “unrealistic” in Rabat supported by influential capitals, including Washington.

In June 2007, a UN-backed negotiation process was initiated on U.S. soil, but it struggles to find common ground between the two main protagonists, Morocco and Algeria-backed Polisario.

The date of the fifth round of negotiations should be set by mutual agreement between Morocco and the Polisario.
YB/mn/sd/ad/APA

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