US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS2147

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 002147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, AG, MO, WI, Polisario 
SUBJECT: POLISARIO REMOVES OCTOBER 12 PRESS RELEASE AND 
ISSUES NEW STATEMENT 
 
REF: A. ALGIERS 2138 
     B. STATE 192163 
     C. RABAT 2144 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) DCM followed up the evening of October 19 with 
Polisario "Ambassador" Mohammed Beissat on Beissat's 
assertion (ref A) that the Polisario's press service, SPS, 
had not officially released the threatening statement of 
October 12.  DCM noted that the statement continued to appear 
on the SPS web site, and an embarrassed Beissat said it would 
be removed immediately.  DCM also pressed again for an 
additional official statement denying any Polisario threat to 
American citizens or interests and, at Beissat's request, 
suggested language for the statement.  Following the local 
weekend, post checked the web site October 22 and found that 
the October 12 statement had been removed and that a new 
October 20 statement had been posted. 
 
2.  (U) The English-language text of the October 20 statement 
(with minor Embassy grammatical edits) states in full: 
 
"The Government of SADR and Polisario Front, who call for the 
respect of international legality, reiterate that they do not 
have the intention to threaten either American citizens or 
American interests and reaffirm their condemnation of 
terrorism in all its forms.  The struggle Saharawi people is 
waging, for more than 30 years, is a clean national 
liberation struggle that conforms to international legality 
and to UN's resolutions which recommend the exercise by the 
Saharawi people of its right to self-determination and 
independence." 
 
ERDMAN