An uprising has reportedly erupted in the Tindouf camps, southwestern Algeria, where the Polisario movement fighting for independence from Morocco, is headquartered.
The Moroccan official news agency (MAP) claimed in a report that what it called “the uprising” broke out at the Aousserd camp against the Polisario leadership. It said that “hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to the Polisario mercenaries.”
According to the agency, the angry demonstrators decried the repression and the state of emergency decreed by the Polisario and slammed them for skimming funds destined to the refugees.
“The demonstrators also claimed their right to return to their homeland, Morocco, and pressed for an end to their captivity in the camps.”
Map also claimed that there is a food shortage in the camps, and the refugees tried to meet their needs through bringing foodstuff from Mauritania.
“This behavior did not please the Algerian authorities who arrested several Sahrawis accusing them of food trafficking,” said the report.
Morocco has occupied the Sahrawi state, recognized by the UN as an independent state, since 1976. A self-determination referendum has been delayed for more than a decade now due to technicalities. The stumbling UN-sponsored talks have been helpless to end the Polisario-Rabat differences.
Map also reported that Britain will continue to back the efforts made to settle the Sahara issue, quoting British ambassador to Morocco, Antony Layden as saying Saturday.
The envoy said his country will continue to back the efforts made by the United Nations Secretary-General and his personal envoy, James Baker, to find a political solution to the Sahara issue within Moroccan sovereignty."
According to the agency, the British diplomat underlined that Algeria should know that "there is today a genuine opportunity to settle this problem, an opportunity that will be difficult to find in the future.It is Morocco that is up to determine means to grant an enlarged autonomy to its territories," he reportedly said – Albawaba.com
