Western Sahara: Polisario security chief broaches autonomy; repression continues

CounterVortex

In what were surely welcome words in Rabat, the top police official of the rebel Polisario Front broached the possibility of autonomy rather than independence for Morocco-occupied Western Sahara last week. Speaking at a press conference in the occupied territory’s town of Smara, Polisario Police Inspector-General Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud said the proposed autonomy initiative is the best possible solution to the Western Sahara conflict: “In the past, we had two conflicting options: either to integrate into Morocco or become independent. Today we have a third option that helps us achieve our main objective, which is the Sahrawi distinction.” Today, the Polisario Front only has power in Tindouf, a desert town and refugee camp under their control across the Algerian border. (Magharebia, Aug. 11)

The comments came one week after Moroccan police intervened against a protest by striking workers in El Aaiún, capital of the occupied territory. The Trade Union of Saharawi Workers launched a general strike on Aug. 2 to protest the “policy of segregation applied by Morocco” and the “plundering of Saharawi natural resources.” When workers demonstrated in front of the Department of Mines and Energy, the march was attacked by the police, injuring 14.

A statement by the strikers said: “The Moroccan government’s policy of impoverishment and racial segregation in the occupied territory of Western Sahara has become unbearable: the Saharawi workers’ basic human rights are violated, the natural resources are plundered and the MINURSO has failed to organize a self-determination referendum for the Saharawi.” MINURSO is the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. The referendum has been repeatedly postponed since 1990. (Western Sahara Resource Watch, Aug. 2)

See our last post on Morocco and Western Sahara.

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  1. Too much exaggeration and lies on the Western Sahara issue
    Hi There,

    It’s necessary to separate between social strikes where people claim social advantages and those where separatism is claimed. Most of the worker’ strikes are about social claims and nothing else. Most of the people participating to these strikes are not originally from the disputed Western Sahara region. They change their social claims to separatism when the government don’t answer to all their revendications. That’s all folks! Anything else would be about intellectual misery. The saharawis are living in peace and harmony in the Western Sahara region. They are happy to belong to Morocco. They are supporting autonomy to happy end this absurd conflict legacy of the cold war. More to read on the Western Sahara region (made by the unionist saharawis) :

    http://www.corcas.com
    http://www.sahara-online.net
    http://www.sahara-culture.com
    http://www.sahara-villes.com
    http://www.sahara-developpement.com
    http://www.sahara-social.com

    Web TV : http://www.corcas.tv

    Last but not least, Polisario Front is the Africa’s Last Calumny.

    Regards

    Ahmed Salem Amr Khaddad
    Unionist Western Saharawi

    1. Polisario is not “separatist”…
      …because Western Sahara is not part of Morocco. It’s like calling the Palestinians “separatist.”

      “Africa’s Last Calumny,” for the uninitiated, is a play on Polisario’s (accurate) reference to Western Sahara as “Africa’s Last Colony.”

  2. The guy is NOT Polisario police chief
    The Guy is NOT a chief of nothing…The moroccans are trying to give him more importance than what he has.He used to be a policeman in the camps and was suspended and lived in Mauritania. He is accused of some abuses and that’swhy he joined Morocco.
    DO NOT BELIEVE ALL WHAT THE MOROCCAN PROPAGANDA PUBLISHES

    1. Moroccan propaganda?
      Is our source (Magharebia) “Moroccan propaganda”? It was widely reported elsewhere too, with all accounts referring to him the same way…

  3. Bull shit article and what waist of time!
    That is ridiculous, hilarious to read your article: – Occupied territory, – The Trade Union of Saharawi Workers launched a general strike on Aug. 2 to protest the “policy of segregation applied by Morocco” and the “plundering of Saharawi natural resources.”
    Did you check how many people were on strike, may be 2, 3, dozen maximum

    And you ask for tip.
    Bull shit article and what waist of time!

    1. Please check definition of “waist”
      From Merriam-Webster:

      1 a : the typically narrowed part of the body between the thorax and hips b : the greatly constricted basal part of the abdomen of some insects (as wasps and flies)
      2 : the part of something corresponding to or resembling the human waist: as a (1) : the part of a ship’s deck between the poop and forecastle (2) : the middle part of a sailing ship between foremast and mainmast
      b : the middle section of the fuselage of an airplane
      3 : a garment or the part of a garment covering the body from the neck to the waistline or just below:
      a : bodice
      b : blouse
      4 : waistline