الـعـربية Español Français English Deutsch Русский Português Italiano
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Top News

Mr. Khalihenna Ould Errachid in an interview with the newspaper “Sahra Al Maghribia” on the 14th December, 2006.



SAM: Mr. Khalihenna Ould Errachid, President of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, said that the Council has achieved a lot towards a solution based on reconciliation concerning the Moroccan Sahara issue, in conformity with the august Royal instructions.
You have just come from a tour in some European capitals, what are the conclusions you can draw from it?

KOE: The tour was very important as we visited France and Spain to present the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs to the political parties, parliaments and public opinion. We have met in these two countries the parties in power as well as those in the opposition, besides all the political operators including the institutes specialized in political studies.

SAM: During this tour, you did not meet with political officials in power, is it so decided by yourselves or is it because your status does not allow you to meet such people?

KOE: We did not meet ministers, but in France, we have met the party in power. The same thing happened in Spain. We have also had meetings with decision makers at the level of parties especially those in charge of the Sahara issue.

SAM: What about the visit to the United States of America, many Moroccan newspapers wrote that the Minister for Foreign Affairs refused to receive you?

KOE: This is a lie, and I have made a statement about this question when I was in Madrid. We have not yet planned to visit the USA.

SAM: How would you explain the declaration made by John Bolton, the USA Ambassador to the Security Council who said that Morocco should present a project that can be concretely applied?

KOE: Asking Morocco to present a project that can be concretely applied is a good and positive thing, and this is what we want to achieve.

SAM: You have declared that you have the green light from His Majesty the King to meet President Abdelaziz Boutaflika, have you already asked for an audience with the Algerian President?

KOE: There has been a misunderstanding of what I said. Actually, I have said that I will ask His Majesty’s permission to meet Abdelaziz Boutaflika, and till now I have not done so.

SAM: in Case you have His Majesty’s permission, what kind of message would you convey to him?

KOE : First of all, I would greet him because I know him personally. Secondly, I admire the achievements of Mr. Abdelaziz Boutaflika concerning the internal reconciliation in Algeria, and the national peace and its success. I would ask him to do the same thing for the Sahara issue, that is to make a reconciliation Between us and Polisario.

SAM: Have you tried to open a dialog with the Polisario leaders, to meet Mohammed Abdelaziz?

KOE: Polisario are our people and we are in direct contact with them without needing anybody’s mediation, but of course I will seek to meet my brother Abdelaziz,in due time.

SAM: Where are you concerning the preparation of the autonomy project? Have you ever started working on that?

KOE: We will hold the first session of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs in the current month of May, on the 25th . We will start working on its structures.

SAM: Do you think that such a project would be ready during the coming session of the Security Council in the coming October?

KOE: By God will, it will be ready, and we will work hard to achieve that.

SAM: When do you think this problem would be definitely solved? Do you think it would take another 30 years as was expressed by the new envoy of the United Nations’ Secretary, to the Sahara?

KOE: We should not be asked to achieve, in one or two months, what nobody could do in thirty years. The Council was founded in March, when our next meeting will be held, it would be two months since its creation, but still we have done a lot towards the solution based on reconciliation, especially that the policy His Majesty the King Mohammed VI asked the Council to apply, is founded on reconciliation, mainly historical reconciliation and its accomplishment as soon as possible. So, we are working in this field, first of all, on psychic reconciliation because there are obstacles coming from lack of trust, from misunderstanding, ready-made prejudice and lots of secrets, and so many other things that we should overcome or abolish to reach the real and final reconciliation that would end in substantial autonomy, thus, putting an end to the Sahara issue, if God wishes so. Concerning what was said by the new envoy of the United Nations’ Secretary, I think that he said the issue can not be solved in a short period, and I am more optimist than anybody else, the question concerns our people and I am sure the citizens in Tindouf camps, as it is the case for all the Sahrawi people, wherever they are, wish to reach a quick solution for this question.

It is true there are so many imaginary problems and expectations, and our main task is to clear up things frankly to our people and to ask them for a commitment towards a complete reestablishment of normal relations and a general reconciliation, because there is no other solution than this one,  and looking for another solution is just making this conflict last longer. More important than that, there is no solution for the Sahara issue apart from the autonomy project, so the choice is between the autonomy and the fact of leaving our brothers in Lahmada for an undetermined time, with all the suffering, pain, separation that such a situation implies, and a continuous crisis nobody is aware of, at the head of which the people living in camps.

I would like to point out here that the United Nations has said that the Baker project concerning the referendum is scrapped for ever and it can not be applied technically, politically, especially that the referendum is based on defining the identity. In this case, substantial autonomy becomes the final solution for this issue, and we will do our best to make our brothers in Tindouf camps agree about the autonomy project because there is no other choice, and I do not think there is anybody who would like to remain in Lahmada for ever.

SAM: How would you convince the brothers in Lahmada to accept your point of view?

KOE: We have made the proposal for reconciliation, changing the conditions and straying from false promises and overstatements, and we say to those who want the referendum that there would be no referendum, the only solution is the autonomy project which guarantees all the rights of the Sahrawi people, including the political and cultural rights, and I am sure people are fed up with life in Tindouf and want to be out of this miserable, non acceptable situation, and we want them to leave the camps still proud, with their heads up. The autonomy project is a victory for those who, since 1972, have asked for a status for the Sahrawi personality inside the Moroccan Kingdom. Such a status which would enable the Sahrawi people to enjoy their economic, social and political rights. Any other proposal would not be accepted!

SAM: Let’s go back a little bit, how were things inside the Royal Advisory Council for Sahara Affairs during the election of the board of trustees?

KOE: The board suffrage took place in conformity with the Council Constitutive Decree, in an atmosphere of transparency, in front of 141 members. We practised democracy in all its dimensions, and the result was almost in conformity with the traditional equilibrium, because it is difficult for the suffrage to meet the expected balances but it shows the maturity of the Council’s members, and their being ready to assume their responsibility and practice transparent democracy in front of everybody, which confirms that the Sahrawi people are not tribes in conflict nor a primitive society, and this is a proof that we are able to rule ourselves. From this, we can say that the election of the board members happened within a historical meeting, in a way that honours the people in the region and makes them at the level of the trust invested in them by His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, to protect and defend the territorial and national integrity of the Kingdom, and show interest in developing economic, social and cultural fields.

SAM: What is the main mission of the Council afterwards?

KOE: We have been able, since the creation of the Council and the election of its members, to prepare the Council’s regulations, and to set up the missions which His Majesty the King Mohammed VI entrusted it with, and which are even more important and noble than the procedural actions. We are going to start a great work on the political, diplomatic and development level to accomplish our mission following His Majesty’s request. We will, first of all, talk to all the Sahrawi people in the Southern provinces, then those in Tindouf and in the countries of immigration. We will also address the Member States of the Security Council, and the African and Arabic countries, and also Algeria, our neighbour and sister country.


We will also talk to our brothers in the Polisario front, we will try, through a serious work, to tell them that the act of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, on the 25th March 2006, in Laayoune is a historic work, which turns the negative page and starts a positive one. We will tell them that it is high time to go ahead, to put an end to the sterile ideas, to take the opportunity of His Majesty’s initiative and participate in the development action, building a democratic Morocco in which all the components of the Moroccan society would live in peace and brotherhood.

SAM: How would you tackle the inhabitants’ problems?

KOE: The Council has two sessions yearly, but it can meet any time if His Majesty the King wishes so. We have many issues to deal with, we will first of all put the device for the administrative work, then, we will tackle all priority problems. The inhabitants’ preoccupations are, of course, among the priorities which should be discussed in the Council.

SAM: What kind of result do we expect from this Council?

KOE: We are committed to explain the expected results in creating this Council, which His Majesty wants to have at his side, so that there would be no doubt about the aims of this Council and the way it would be managed. We are also committed to apply defined policies to correct the economic, social and political deviations existing in this region and to explain our national issue as real Sahrawi citizens, who were not appointed by the Moroccan administration because we just accept any thing. We are Moroccan, but we need to bring back the Sahrawi position as it was in the past. The Sahrawi people were an influential entity and an important  pillar in the Moroccan State. This is the first time in history that His Majesty the King Mohammed VI sets up this policy which would be beneficial to every part of the region and to everybody.

 

 This website shall not be responsible for the functioning and content of external links !
  Copyright © CORCAS 2024