US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1199

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, PHUM, AG, WI, MO, Polisario 
SUBJECT: POLISARIO SECRETARY GENERAL SAYS THE NON-VIOLENT 
STRUGGLE CONTINUES 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
-------------------- 
 
1.  (SBU) In a departure from recent sabre-rattling rhetoric, 
Polisario leader Abdelaziz told a press gathering in Algiers 
June 11 it was the intent of the Sahrawis to use peaceful 
means in their struggle for self-determination.  Blaming the 
Government of Morocco for the violence of late May, Abdelaziz 
said the Sahrawis, in the quest for their legitimate rights, 
had no intention of taking up arms unless pushed to do so by 
the Moroccan authorities.  Abdelaziz stressed that the 
Sahrawis' dispute was with the colonial behavior of the GOM 
and not the Moroccan people themselves; renewed his calls for 
the international community to intervene through the United 
Nations and the Security Council; and urged Spain and France 
to take up the Sahrawi cause.  The Algerian press gave wide 
coverage to Abdelaziz's remarks, which came on the heels of 
our message to the GOA and Polisario that return to armed 
struggle would be unacceptable and counterproductive. 
 
SAHRAWIS ENGAGED IN A PEACEFUL STRUGGLE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) In a press forum organized June 11 in Algiers by the 
Arabic-language daily newspaper El Bilad, Secretary General 
of the Polisario Mohamed Abdelaziz reaffirmed the Sahrawi 
pursuit of a "non-violent" struggle in the Western Sahara. 
Abdelaziz pledged that "the protests, strikes and sit-ins 
would continue to be peaceful" in seeking "the liberation of 
political prisoners" and "the organization of a referendum on 
self-determination."  Abdelaziz added:  "The cannons and guns 
have quieted, but not the voices of a people in search of its 
self-determination." 
 
3.  (U) In regard to Morocco, Abdelaziz reiterated the 
Sahrawis' pursuit of a "peaceful struggle in the hope that 
Morocco will not push us to take up arms again."  Abdelaziz 
regretted that the GOM had "violently repressed" the peaceful 
protests which took place May 23-29.  He commented that the 
"Moroccan authorities reinforced their repressive apparatus 
(in directing it) against the protests through which the 
Sahrawis exercised a legitimate right...." 
 
ENEMY IS GOM COLONIALIST BEHAVIOR, NOT THE MOROCCAN PEOPLE 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
4.  (U) While he clearly put the blame on Morocco for recent 
violence, and pronounced "unacceptable" that "foreign 
observers and the international press were prevented by the 
Moroccan colonizer from visiting" the territories of the 
Western Sahara, Abdelaziz also held out an olive branch to 
the Moroccans:  "Our enemy is not Morocco but the phenomenon 
of Moroccan colonization....The Moroccans are our friends, 
neighbors, brothers....Our view is that ... (they have been 
victims) since 1975 of propaganda that caused (them) to lose 
sight of the truth....We do not lose hope that the Moroccan 
citizen will say no to the imprisonment of women and no to 
the repression of the Sahrawis." 
 
RENEWS APPEAL FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND INTERVENTION 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
5.  (U) Abdelaziz renewed his "urgent" appeal to the 
international community to pressure Morocco and create the 
conditions necessary for the protection of human life and the 
legitimate exercise of Sahrawi rights.  He called on "the 
United Nations and the Security Council to fulfill their 
responsibilities in the Western Sahara as they have done in 
other parts of the world."  Abdelaziz noted that "Spain ... 
could play an important role," and urged France to "assume 
its responsibilities as a member of the Security Council and 
a country very close to Morocco in order to afford the 
Sahrawi civilian population respect for its elemental 
rights." 
 
6.  (U) In the context of Abdelaziz' remarks and the 
potential role the U.S. could play, the Algerian press 
frequently referred to a letter from Congressman Pitts and 
other members of Congress to Secretary Rice urging the Bush 
Administration to "intervene" so that a referendum on 
self-determination could be organized in the Western Sahara. 
 
ERDMAN