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PRESS RELEASE............. |
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19 Hormead
Road, London |
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PRESS RELEASE............. |
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19 Hormead
Road, London |
Morocco
should be reminded of the necessity to respect the UN-OAU
Peace Plan for Western Sahara London, 19
February 2002 According to
the French Moroccan newspaper L'Economiste of 19 February,
Mr. Mohamed Benaïssa, the Moroccan Foreign minister
will be paying a visit to UK the 21st and 22nd of February
2002 . During this visit, the Moroccan minister will meet
Mr. Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs according to the same sources. This
visit also takes place some days before the first meeting of
the Moroccan-British Business Council expected to be on 28
February in London. The POLISARIO
Front and the Sahrawi Government would like to recall on
this occasion the illegal presence of Morocco in Western
Sahara since 1975, date of the Moroccan military invasion -
in violation of international law - of the former Spanish
Sahara, now the last remaining colony in Africa. We urge Her
Majesty's Government to remind Morocco of the necessity to
respect the right of the people of Western Sahara to
self-determination through a free, fair and transparent
referendum, according to the 1991 UN-OAU Settlement Plan,
the 1997 Houston agreements, the verdict of the
International Court of Justice of 10 October 1975 and the
conclusions of the UN LegalOpinion of 29 January
2002. We also recall
that any trade with Morocco concerning arms will be
certainly used to strengthen the position of the Moroccan
army in Western Sahara and will encourage Morocco to
continue its illegal occupation of Western Sahara and its
refusal to implement the UN-OAU Peace Plan. The desire of
some British circles to increase trade with Morocco should
not make UK act in contradiction with its role as a
Permanent member of the UN Security Council, responsible for
peace and stability in the world. Fadel
Ismail Head of Western
Sahara (POLISARIO) Mission for UK & Ireland
