Hot SourceMichael Olugbode in Abuja
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has approached Nigeria to join other friendly nations across the world to pressurise Morocco into agreeing to convocation of referendum to determine the political status of Western Sahara.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, who was in Nigeria to state the position of his country on the Western Sahara issue and plead for support on resolution of the crisis, paid a visit to the National Assembly and had discussion with his Nigerian counterpart, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja after the meetings, Beissat said for the peace of the Maghreb, Morocco must be compelled to respect the political wish of the people of Western Sudan which can only through a referendum.
He said: “Morocco’s colonial adventure is very costly. America, with all its might and its richness, couldn’t continue its colonial adventure in Iraq or in Iran or in Afghanistan or in Somalia. It’s very costly to oppress people.
“You think it will end this year, but it will never end. So it costs Morocco from 3.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent of its gross domestic Product (GDP). Annually, it’s costing this military exercise.
“Morocco has the longest berm in the world. It’s longer than the berm between the US and Mexico. It’s longer than the two berms France built in the Algerian War, Charles and Maginot.
“It’s longer than the Berlin Wall. The wall that Israel built to protect Sinai. It’s the longest wall in the world, 2,700 kilometres, running from South Morocco to North Mauritania. In this wall, stationed there are more than 120,000 soldiers to occupy this land.
“It is going to double the salary of the soldiers, buy very sophisticated drones and satellites, all to continue its illegal occupation of Western Sahara, which cannot be continued. So the economic and finance and political costs in the terms and image of Morocco and its relations with its neighbours. It’s very, very costly.
“Now, the whole of the region of the Maghreb is blocked. There is no regional cooperation or regional integration because of the position of our three neighbours. Two of them recognise us, which is Algeria and Mauritania.
“And Morocco is the only one who doesn’t recognise us from our neighbours. And this really causes Morocco a big problem. Their relation with Europe is frozen because of the European court ruling on Western Sahara.
“It cannot continue a relation ignoring this, and he cannot stop a relation because Europe is so important for them. Their relation with the United Nations, their relation with the world, Morocco is the biggest prison of its colonial adventure, its failure of its colonial adventure. Now they are making a lot of noise about autonomy, but it’s a cul-de-sac.”
“It’s a closed road, anyone cannot accept one single, one-sided position to be imposed on a people. No one can support that.
“Every man or woman in their right mind, cannot say we have to oblige the Sahrawis and handcuff them and deliver them because the king said autonomy. This is nonsense. This is another world.
“Not the king can rule people. It’s a time of democracy, time of legality. People have to have choices, people have to choose freely what they think is right for them.”
