ALGERIA: Independence group Polisario says makes concession for Western Sahara peace

A new peace plan by Western Saharan independence group Polisario would expand the choices available to Sahrawis under a promised vote on the territory's future, the group said. Morocco has much to win from a new peace plan by Western Saharan independence group Polisario since it would take into account all Rabat's "anxieties and preoccupations," the group said on Sunday (April 15). The plan would also give the Western Sahara a chance to say yes or no to Rabat's preferred status of autonomy, said Mohammed Beissat, Polisario's envoy to Algeria. "We want to extend the hand of brotherhood and friendship and cooperation, to enter with our brothers the Moroccans into special strategic relations, unique in their political, economic, trade and security dimensions," Beissat told journalists of efforts to settle the status of the northwest African territory of 260,000 and end to Africa's oldest territorial dispute. In its proposal submitted to the United Nations last week, Polisario said it was ready to negotiate with Morocco on ways to hold a "genuine referendum" in the former Spanish colony that would offer "the choice between independence, integration into the Kingdom of Morocco and self-governance". Mohammed Abdelaziz, president of the self-proclaimed government in exile for Western Sahara and of Polisario, had told Algerian state radio the plan would expand the choices available to Sahrawis under a promised vote on the territory's future. Beissat said: "It is a democratic initiative built on principles of modern culture, because it gives the Sahrawi people choices, it does not give them only one choice, it respects the Sahrawi people and their rights and gives them many choices from which to choose. These choices are joining Morocco -- to be Moroccans like the rest of the Moroccan residents -- and it also gives them the choice of enjoying self-rule inside Morocco, and it also gives them the right to choose independence if that is what they want." Autonomy or self-governance is the status Morocco seeks to confer on the territory under its own, rival proposal, which was also submitted to the world body last week. Previously officials of Algerian-based Polisario preferred a simple referendum accepting or rejecting independence. Morocco, claiming centuries-old rights over the territory, annexed it in 1975 when Spain withdrew, triggering a low-level guerrilla war with the Polisario. A U.N. cease-fire agreement in 1991 promised a referendum on the fate of the territory, but it never took place and Rabat now rules it out, saying autonomy is the most it will offer. "It's the first time the victim offers to the oppressor to take into account all his anxieties and preoccupations," said Beissat. The U.N. Security Council will discuss the three-decade-old dispute later this month when the mandate of the 220-strong U.N. peace-keeping mission there comes up for renewal. Thousands of Moroccans have been encouraged by Rabat to move to Western Sahara over the years, drawn by generous public salaries and tax breaks. Both sides have said they are willing to negotiate, but differ on what the talks should be about. Morocco says such talks should be limited to the details of autonomy option. But Polisario says such talks should be about how to hold a referendum among Sahrawis on self-determination. Many countries have extended diplomatic ties to Polisario and recognise its claim to a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

ITN Source | April 16, 2007

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