Obasanjo hails jail release

2005-08-31 21:03

Abuja - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed his satisfaction on Tuesday about the release of 400 Moroccans by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front after more than 25 years of detention.

Obasanjo, the African Union chairman, commended all the countries and international organisations, that had worked to achieve freedom for the 404 Moroccans on August 18.

He said: "With this development, a significant step has been taken towards the peaceful resolution of the Saharan issue.

"It signals the end of some human suffering caused by the Saharan conflict and should mark the beginning of the process of dialogue involving all parties concerned."

In his capacity as AU chairperson, Obasanjo said he would intensify consultations with all the parties and actively encourage a negotiated solution to the Western Sahara issue.

Prisoners disappear

The AU commission welcomed on August 21 the release of the last Moroccan prisoners of war held by the Western Sahara's Polisario separatist rebels.

It also urged Rabat to reciprocate with respect to the Sahrawi prisoners who disappeared during the conflict.

Morocco annexed the Western Sahara - formerly ruled by Spain - in 1975, but the Polisario Front, sparking a conflict in the northwestern African region, contested its claim.

Under a 1991 ceasefire agreement between Morocco and the Polisario independence movement, all prisoners were to be released immediately.

The Polisario Front captured more than 1 000 Moroccans during the conflict, but it had since gradually released the detainees, many of them soldiers, under pressure from foreign governments and international organisations.

Polisario claimed that Morocco still had 150 prisoners of war, 35 political prisoners and more than 500 missing who were being held in secret in Moroccan prisons.

- AFP