Thank you for you interesting and eloquent response to this comment. The intention of my post was to get a reaction and I am delighted that I have succeeded. Needless to say may days of travelling in Morocco are over, as I have no desire to be deported, harassed, or to spend time in one of your prisons where the human rights of those who disagree with the current regime are routinely abused. You need not trouble yourself with empty threats, as your security services are already aware of my activities in Western Sahara, which have already been the subject of a complaint to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office by the Moroccan ambassador in London. I will continue to choose to travel and work in the free zone of Western Sahara, with people fighting legitimately for their freedom and independence, rather than in Morocco. I know my history, and prefer it to the propaganda coming fromt he regime in Rabat. Saddam Hussein used history to justify his invasion of Kuwait, and history has been used to justify many acts of aggression. What counts today is justice, respect for human rights, and the right to self-determination.

I will forward you message to the adminstrators of this site, who I’m sure will be interested in your colourful language.

Bye for now!

Shut your big dumn ass. the only talking you’ll do is in your dreams. If you had any courage, you’ll first speack againts your king who made you all slaves. The only thing you are good for is to kiss French’s ass.

Well, forgive me if I don’t read all of these comments in great detail, given the rather abusive tone. I will respond briefly though, to the bits that I’ve quickly scanned.

The conflict in Western Sahara, which is currently partitioned into the Moroccan occupied zone and the so-called “Free Zone”, is a result of Morocco’s invasion of the the territory in 1975, which happened as the former Spanish colonial authorities withdrew. The Polisario had been fighting for independence from Spain, and naturally then fought against the Moroccan invasion and occupaiton. The bottom line is that the Sahrawi, who inhabit Western Sahara, wanted to be independent, and their right to self-determination was recognised by the international community. This is why the UN has been trying to organise a referendum on independence since it brokered a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario in 1991. The UN recognises Western Sahara as one of a few remaining “non self-governing territories” and no country has formally recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory. On the other hand, some 65 (mostly African) countries recognise the Polisario as the government of the “Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic”.

My knowledge of the situation there is informed by a number of visits to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, and the Free Zone, and not by propaganda originating from a government headed by a hereditary Monarch who is continuing his father’s expansionist policies. Claims that the Polisario hold people hostage in the camps and send them forcibly to Cuba to be abused are propaganda. The Sahrawi are free to move between the camps and the Free Zone, and many do with their herds when rainfall means there is pasture in the Free Zone. Otherwise the lack of water the risk of renewed conflict means the Free Zone is not viable for large-scale settlement. Sahrawi children and teenagers go all over the world on exchange visits and for shooling, as the refugee camps, which survive largely on donations from Algeria and the EU, do not offer comprehensive schooling opportunities to secondary level. Despite this, Sahrawi children are some of the best educated in Africa, and literacy rates are high (higher than in certain neighbouring countries…)

The Polisario did hold Moroccan prisoners for many years, and they are not saints. But they have been fighting a war imposed on them by Morocco, and Morocco bears responsibility for the conflict. Moroccan PoWs were held as bargaining chips, and one can argue about the morality of this, sure. But plenty of Sahrawi were also held by the Moroccans, and many “disappeared” in custody. Today in the occupied territories Sahrawi are treated as second class citizens and are routinely harassed, arrested and beaten by the Moroccan authorities, and a number have died in custody or disappeared.

On a recent trip to the Free Zone I met a group of Africans who had been trying get into Europe via Morocco, but who had been arrested by Moroccan authorities and dumped in the desert on the Polisario side of the “Berm” – the Moroccan wall built to keep the Polisario out of the occupied zone. Along with some 100 other illegal migrants dumped in the desert by the Moroccans they were being looked after by the Polisario and were waiting to be repatriated, or just waiting to see what happened next. While the Sahrawi, who themselves have to exist on charity, were looking after these people who had been left to die in the desert by the Moroccans, the Moroccan media were running stories about the wonderful treatment illegal migrants received in Morocco, and as usual villifying the Polisario and criminals.

If any crime has been committed here it is the invasion and occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, and the continuing oppression of the Sahrawi people by the Moroccan colonial authorities. But legality aside, the bottom line is that a people who want to determine their own future have been denied the right of self-determination by a land-hungry country run by an unelected Monarch. The United States and its friends have been known to invade countries for such actions, but as long as Morocco keeps on good terms with the West and bribes it with access to markets and the lure of oil exploration contracts, the West will turn a blind eye.

Sahara Libre.