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250 Political Figures Support US Recognition of Moroccan Sovereignty Over Western Sahara Region

Moroccan and American officials in the desert city of Dakhla on January 2021. (AFP)
Moroccan and American officials in the desert city of Dakhla on January 2021. (AFP)
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250 Political Figures Support US Recognition of Moroccan Sovereignty Over Western Sahara Region

Moroccan and American officials in the desert city of Dakhla on January 2021. (AFP)
Moroccan and American officials in the desert city of Dakhla on January 2021. (AFP)

A group of 250 political leaders and elected officials from 25 countries in Europe and Latin America signed a letter this week addressed to President Joe Biden, expressing support for the US’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.

“Mr. President, we, former heads of government, former ministers, elected officials, members of parliaments, have the honor to write to you to express our satisfaction with the sovereign decision of the United States of America to recognize the full sovereignty of Morocco over the entire territory of the Sahara,” read the letter, published by former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi.

Among the signatories of this letter are former Czech President Vaclav Klaus, former Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales Cabrera, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Georgy Bliznachki, former member of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) Stephan Todorov Davidov, as well as several members of parliament and senators currently in office.

“We can only welcome the US decision to recognize the autonomy initiative as the sole basis for a solution to the Sahara regional dispute,” they stressed.

They pointed out that the US decision came at a time when the political process needed a “new impetus.”

“We believe it opens concrete prospects for guiding the UN political process towards a final solution,” the letter added, indicating that they are convinced that the US, under the presidency of Joe Biden, will continue to move the Sahara issue towards a just and lasting solution through its continued support for the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative.

Autonomy is the only way to end the suffering of the people living in the Tinduf camps in Algeria, to ensure reconciliation and achieve permanent peace and stability in a strategic region, by creating a real vector of peace, stability, and prosperity in Africa and even in the world, it explained.

“We are concerned with the consequences that an indefinite extension of the status quo could have; allowing for acts of terror carried out by armed militias in a highly strategic area, and key to the stability of the African continent and the Euro –Mediterranean basin.”

“We are delighted about the developments taking place in the Sahara Provinces, which continue to record honorable human development indices.”

A progress that was made possible thanks to the New Development Model of the Sahara Provinces launched by King Mohammed VI in 2015, with a budget of eight million dollars.

They noted that this development, which brings jobs and prosperity, is visible in infrastructure, hospitals, town planning, services, schools, not to mention economic projects of all kinds, agricultural, industrial, tourism, and social and solidarity economy.

This development has gone hand in hand with flourishing democratic local governance. In 2015, the two regions of the Sahara recorded the highest turnout in the first regional elections held in Moroccan history.

Today, Sahrawis, including former “Polisario” official, chair the two regional councils in the region through internationally recognized free and transparent elections, making them the only legitimate representatives of the region’s population, it read, adding that these elected officials propose, vote and implement, in contract with the State, the development projects of their regions in order to meet citizens’ aspirations.

The management contributes a prelude to what the autonomy plan would offer under Moroccan sovereignty, with the creation of “regional legislative, executive and judicial bodies.”

“We believe it is no coincidence that a growing number of nations, including the United States, support the Autonomy Initiative as a realistic, viable, and sustainable political solution based on compromise,” the 250 signatories stressed.

“We are also delighted that the US has joined 20 other countries in opening consular representations in the Sahara, in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla.”

This decision, they said, not only recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara provinces, but also Morocco’s role as a historic link between Europe and Africa as a regional economic pole carrying many opportunities for investors from all over the world and prospects for future knowledge and employment for the youth of the African continent.

They finally welcomed the Trilateral Pact signed between Morocco, Israel, and the United States, which will strengthen the prospects for peace in the Middle East, in accordance with the historic role that Morocco has played in advancing peace in the Middle East.

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Arab World

Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
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Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File

War has left Gaza littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, with children drawn to metal casings maimed or even killed when they try to pick them up, a demining expert said.

Nicholas Orr, a former UK military deminer, told AFP after a mission to the war-battered Palestinian territory that "we're losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment."

According to Orr, most of the casualties are children out of school desperate for something to do, searching through the rubble of bombed-out buildings sometimes for lack of better playthings.

"They're bored, they're running around, they find something curious, they play with it, and that's the end," he said.

Among the victims was 15-year-old Ahmed Azzam, who lost his leg to an explosive left in the rubble as he returned to his home in the southern city of Rafah after months of displacement.

"We were inspecting the remains of our home and there was a suspicious object in the rubble," Azzam told AFP.

"I didn't know it was explosive, but suddenly it detonated," he said, causing "severe wounds to both my legs, which led to the amputation of one of them."

He was one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning home during a truce that brought short-lived calm to Gaza after more than 15 months of war, before Israel resumed its bombardment and military operations last month.

For Azzam and other children, the return was marred by the dangers of leftover explosives.

'Attractive to kids'

Demining expert Orr, who was in Gaza for charity Handicap International, said that while no one is safe from the threat posed by unexploded munitions, children are especially vulnerable.

Some ordnance is like "gold to look at, so they're quite attractive to kids", he said.

"You pick that up and that detonates. That's you and your family gone, and the rest of your building."

Another common scenario involved people back from displacement, said Orr, giving an example of "a father of a family who's moved back to his home to reclaim his life, and finds that there's UXO in his garden".

"So he tries to help himself and help his family by moving the UXO, and there's an accident."

With fighting ongoing and humanitarian access limited, little data is available, but in January the UN Mine Action Service said that "between five and 10 percent" of weapons fired into Gaza failed to detonate.

It could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs, the UN agency said.

Alexandra Saieh, head of advocacy for Save The Children, said unexploded ordnance is a common sight in the Gaza Strip, where her charity operates.

"When our teams go on field they see UXOs all the time. Gaza is littered with them," she said.

'Numbers game'

For children who lose limbs from blasts, "the situation is catastrophic", said Saieh, because "child amputees require specialized long-term care... that's just not available in Gaza".

In early March, just before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza. That included prosthetics that could have helped avoid long-term mobility loss, Saieh said.

Unexploded ordnance comes in various forms, Orr said. In Gaza's north, where ground battles raged for months, there are things like "mortars, grenades, and a lot of bullets".

In Rafah, where air strikes were more intense than ground combat, "it's artillery projectiles, it's airdrop projectiles", which can often weigh dozens of kilograms, he added.

Orr said he was unable to obtain permission to conduct bomb disposal in Gaza, as Israeli aerial surveillance could have mistaken him for a militant attempting to repurpose unexploded ordnance into weapons.

He also said that while awareness-raising could help Gazans manage the threat, the message doesn't always travel fast enough.

"People see each other moving it and think, 'Oh, they've done it, I can get away with it,'" Orr said, warning that it was difficult for a layperson to know which bombs might still explode, insisting it was not worth the risk.

"You're just playing against the odds, it's a numbers game."