DATE=4/28/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43251
TITLE=WESTERN SAHARA ADMINISTRATION
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=TINDOUF, ALGERIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: WHILE DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS CONTINUE OVER THE FUTURE OF THE
WESTERN SAHARA, THE LARGEST TERRITORIAL DECOLONIZATION ISSUE
REMAINING TODAY, NEARLY 200 THOUSAND PEOPLE FROM THE TERRITORY
LIVE IN REFUGEE CAMPS IN NEIGHBORING ALGERIA. THEIR LEADERS HAVE
PROCLAIMED THE SAHARAWI DEMOCRATIC ARAB REPUBLIC AND HAVE
ESTABLISHED POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS TO RUN IT.
CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB VISITED THEIR HEADQUARTERS OUTSIDE THE
SOUTHWESTERN ALGERIAN TOWN OF TINDOUF LAST WEEK AND FILED THIS
REPORT.
TEXT: IT IS MIDDAY IN THE SAHARA AND THE HEAT RADIATES OFF THE
CEMENT WALLS OF THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE SELF-PROCLAIMED SAHARAWI
REPUBLIC, A ONE-STORY COMPOUND RESEMBLING A SMALL DESERT FORT.
THE SAHARAWI FLAG OF BLACK, WHITE, RED AND GREEN FLIES OVER A
CEMENT ARCHWAY THAT OPENS ONTO TREELESS HILLS OF SAND COVERED BY
SMALL BLACK ROCKS.
///SOUND OF TRUCK ARRIVING, PEOPLE DISEMBARKING ///
A GROUP OF FOUR JOURNALISTS ARRIVE. THEY HAVE BEEN INVITED TO
VISIT THE PRESIDENT OF THE SELF-PROCLAIMED REPUBLIC, MOHAMMED
ABDELAZIZ.
THE GROUP IS INTRODUCED INTO ONE OF THE FEW AIR CONDITIONED ROOMS
IN THE CAMP. IT IS A SIMPLE MEETING ROOM WITH BARE WALLS AND
SEVERAL GREEN SOFAS IN ONE CORNER.
THE PRESIDENT STRIDES INTO THE ROOM. HE IS DRESSED IN A PLAIN
KHAKI UNIFORM. HIS FRAME IS SMALL BUT STRONG, HIS HANDSHAKE
FIRM. HE IS FRIENDLY AND HOSPITABLE. A RESPECTED FORMER FIGHTER,
HE IS ELECTED BY A SPECIAL CONGRESS, WHICH, WE ARE TOLD, CONVENES
EVERY THREE OR FOUR YEARS. HIS GOVERNMENT ALSO HAS A PARLIAMENT
OF 100 DEPUTIES, ELECTED EVERY FOUR YEARS.
/// ABDELAZIZ ACT IN ARABIC ///
MR. ABDELAZIZ SAYS HE WAS OBLIGED TO SET UP POLITICAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THAT MOROCCO
INTENDED TO REMAIN IN THE WESTERN SAHARA.
INFORMATION MINISTER MOHAMMED FADEL ISMAIL NOTES 70 COUNTRIES
HAVE RECOGNIZED THE SAHARAWI GOVERNMENT. HE SAYS IT IS NOW ACTING
LIKE A STATE, WITH ITS OWN SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS AND SOCIAL
SERVICES, SUPPORTED PRIMARILY BY ALGERIA AND SOME EUROPEAN DONOR
AGENCIES.
/// ISMAIL ACT ///
WE ARE TRYING TO TELL THE WORLD THAT THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE
CHOOSE THE REPUBLIC AND IS ABLE TO BUILD A STATE. AND
THEY ARE ABLE TO HAVE A STATE AS ANY OTHER PEOPLE IN THE
THIRD WORLD, IN AFRICA, IN ASIA AND SO ON. TODAY, WE
FEEL WE ARE HAVING SOME SUCCESS IN THIS QUESTION, BUT WE
HAVE STILL MANY PROBLEMS.
/// END ACT ///
MR. ABDELAZIZ IS ALSO THE LEADER OF THE POLISARIO FRONT, WHICH
FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES HAS BEEN STRUGGLING FOR INDEPENDENCE
FOR THE WESTERN SAHARA, A LARGELY UNINHABITED DESERT AREA ABOUT
THE SIZE OF ITALY. HE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT WHEN HIS PEOPLE
DECLARED THEIR INDEPENDENCE IN 1976, THE DAY AFTER SPAIN CEDED
ITS FORMER COLONY TO MOROCCO AND MAURITANIA.
THE POLISARIO FRONT FOUGHT MOROCCO FOR CONTROL OF THE TERRITORY
UNTIL 1991, WHEN A CEASE-FIRE WAS DECLARED AND BOTH SIDES AGREED
TO ABIDE BY THE RESULTS OF A U-N SPONSORED REFERENDUM. THE
REFERENDUM, HOWEVER, HAS BEEN DELAYED MANY TIMES OVER PROCEDURAL
DISPUTES.
THERE ARE FOUR MAJOR CAMPS IN THE DESERT OUTSIDE TINDOUF, EACH
WITH A POPULATION OF ABOUT 40 THOUSAND PEOPLE. THEY ARE CALLED
WILAYA'S, OR PROVINCES, AND ARE NAMED AFTER MAJOR TOWNS IN THE
WESTERN SAHARA: EL-AIOUN, DAKHLA, SMARA AND AOUSSERD (AL-AYOON,
DAHLA, AS-MAH-RAH, AOO-SERD). THE WILAYA'S ARE DIVIDED INTO
DISTRICTS, EACH WITH ITS OWN ELECTED COUNCIL.
DURING A VISIT TO SMARA CAMP, SOME 50 KILOMETERS FROM TINDOUF AND
SEVERAL KILOMETERS OFF THE NEAREST PAVED ROAD, THE VISITORS SEE
AN ADMINISTRATION IN OPERATION. THEY VISIT A HOSPITAL, CLINIC,
SCHOOLS AND A TRAINING CENTER.
THE GOVERNOR OF SMARA CAMP, WALAD AL-WALI MOUSSA, IS A 40
YEAR-OLD GEOLOGICAL ENGINEER WHO ARRIVED IN SMARA AT THE AGE OF
14.
/// MOUSSA ACT IN ARABIC ///
GOVERNOR MOUSSA SAYS HE RUNS HIS CAMP LIKE A NORMAL PROVINCE.
EXCEPT, HE SAYS HIS ADMINISTRATIVE PLANNING IN THE CAMP IS YEAR
BY YEAR, BECAUSE EACH YEAR HE MUST PLAN FOR A POSSIBLE RESOLUTION
OF THE SAHARA DISPUTE. IF THE IS RESOLVED, HE SAYS, HIS CAMP IN
MONTHS WILL HAVE TO MOVE -- PEOPLE, BELONGINGS, SCHOOLS,
HOSPITALS AND OFFICES -- BACK TO WESTERN SAHARA.
THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY PROBLEMS FACING THE UNITED NATIONS, WHICH
IS TO OVERSEE THE REFERENDUM AND THE REPATRIATION OF THE
REFUGEES. U-N SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN HAS MADE A MAJOR PUSH,
INCLUDING A TRIP TO THE REGION LAST YEAR, TO RESOLVE THE
REMAINING DISPUTES. THE REFERENDUM IS NOW SCHEDULED FOR NEXT
YEAR.
THE SAHARAWIS CONTINUE TO HOPE BUT REMAIN CAUTIOUS. ALTHOUGH
MOST OF THEM HAVE GROWN UP IN THESE CAMPS, THEY ALL DREAM OF
RETURNING HOME. AND THEY ARE CONFIDENT THEY CAN RUN THEIR OWN
COUNTRY IF, THEY SAY, THEY ARE GIVEN THE CHANCE. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/ALW
28-Apr-99 2:28 PM EDT (1828 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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