Western Sahara refugees urge incoming UN leader not to forget them

October 11, 2006 – (AP) The head of Western Sahara's government-in-exile urged the next U.N. secretary general Wednesday not to forget his people's three-decade struggle for independence from Morocco. "The credibility of the United Nations depends on respecting the fundamental principles of world peace, including peoples' right to self-determination," Mohamed Abdelaziz said in an interview broadcast on Algerian radio.

Abdelaziz heads the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, the Algerian-backed government of some 160,000 refugees from Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony occupied since 1975 by neighboring Morocco. Fleeing Morocco's invasion, the refugees settled in southwest Algeria, where they live in bleak camps in the desert.

Following a 16-year war pitting Moroccan forces against the Saharawi independence front Polisario, the U.N. brokered a cease-fire in 1991 and installed a peacekeeping mission known by its French acronym, MINURSO. Abdelaziz also heads the Polisario, which today leads the SADR.

Since then, repeated efforts to hold an independence referendum for the territory have failed, leaving Saharawis increasingly frustrated with the U.N. Abdelaziz expressed hope that Ban Ki-Moon, nominated to the U.N.'s top job this week, could organize a referendum as soon as he takes office early next year. The current mandate of MINURSO expires at the end of this month, with the U.N. likely to renew it while ratcheting up pressure on Morocco and Polisario to start talking.

Morocco torpedoed a 2003 peace plan crafted by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, and approved by SADR and the U.N. Security Council. Morocco rules out independence for the region, proposing regional autonomy within Morocco instead. Abdelaziz denounced members of the U.N. Security Council as "complicit with Morocco," singling out France for "encouraging Morocco in its defiance."

While no country recognizes Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara, more than 50 acknowledge SADR as the territory's legitimate government. The U.N. classes Western Sahara a non-self-governing territory. Abdelaziz reiterated threats to return to fighting if no way to break the diplomatic pack-ice could be found. "If the Moroccan government persists in its stubbornness, we will have no choice but to defend our rights by all legitimate means."

From : http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/11/africa/AF_GEN_Algeria_UN_Western_Sahara.php