POLISARIO SECRETARY GENERAL SAYS THE NON-VIOLENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001199

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO PHUM AG WI MO
SUBJECT: POLISARIO SECRETARY GENERAL SAYS THE NON-VIOLENT
STRUGGLE CONTINUES

SUMMARY AND COMMENT
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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
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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
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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
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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