Morocco King in Rare Visit to W.Sahara before U.N. Vote
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Morocco's King Mohamed VI made a rare visit Thursday to the Western Sahara, ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on the disputed territory, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.
The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on April 23 to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in the Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco in the 1970s.
Earlier this month the king warned U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon of "perilous options" in the Western Sahara, saying the U.N. role there should remain unchanged.
Rights groups have been pressing the United Nations to task the peacekeepers with human rights monitoring, echoing calls made by the United States last year.
Morocco lobbied against the U.S. last year and the resolution later passed called only for the "promotion and protection of human rights" in Western Sahara.
Morocco controls most of the territory and is highly sensitive to criticism of its policies there.
Mohamed's visit to Dakhla was the first by the king in years to the Western Sahara, and no official details were available on his program.
But an AFP correspondent said he was expected to attend the weekly Muslim Friday prayers in the city.
18 April 2014, 07:37
11
Can anyone please tell me what is the difference between the inaliable rights of the Saharaouian people for an independent state and the same right for the Palestinians?
Both territories ate occupied by other countries?
The only difference I can see is that Saharaoui is occupied by Morocco (amother muslem state) whilst Palestine is occupied by Israel (people of the Jewish faith)
How many Saharaouians have been killed by the Moroccan armed forces since the occupation in the 1970's compared to the number of the Palestinians killed by Israelis in the same period?
18 April 2014, 09:44
02
The difference is also that Sahrawi people never threatened Morocco and always recognized its existence. You can look many examples of diplomatic hypocrisy, like the occupation of Cyprus by Turkey or the fact that the old Kurdish people doesn't have their own State.
Closer to us: the occupation of Lebanon by Syria and Iran via a proxy militia today.
18 April 2014, 18:15
00
The difference is that Western Sahara never existed as a state or an entity pre-colonialism and the Sahrawi ethnicity (nomads) that the pro independence movement is made of is predominant in the UN recognized south part of Morocco. Algeria and Gadafi created this independence movement to weaken the Moroccan monarchy that was pro west during the cold war and it become a lasting geopolitical issue since than
19 April 2014, 22:44
00
Morocco, and Algeria were mainly carved by Spain, and France. In 1956 Spain recognized that the southern part of Morocco (Rio De Oro) needed to be reattached to its parent country Morocco; France kept Algeria as one of its overseas department, and left the western part of Algeria frontiers open mainly because of on both side of the artificially drawn frontiers were people of the same race, dialect,and of the same family. Algerians, and Moroccans are the same people. Algeria is as Moroccan as Morocco, and Morocco is as Algerian as Algeria. The dilemma is that probably Algeria started to feel overshadowed by her neighbors Morocco, and Tunisia. In my opinion they should open their boundaries, and together prosper.
