DATE=5/3/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43297
TITLE=WESTERN SAHARA PRISONERS CQ
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=TINDOUF, ALGERIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE UNITED NATIONS HAS POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT YEAR A
REFERENDUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN SAHARA, THE FORMER
SPANISH COLONY CLAIMED BY MOROCCO AND THE POLISARIO FRONT. THE
TWO SIDES FOUGHT FOR CONTROL OF THE TERRITORY FOR 15 YEARS, UNTIL
A CEASE-FIRE WAS DECLARED IN 1991. CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB
RECENTLY VISITED POLISARIO FRONT CAMPS IN SOUTHWESTERN ALGERIA.
HE REPORTS ON PRISONERS STILL BEING HELD -- AN IMPORTANT REMINDER
OF THE CONFLICT WHICH WILL NOT DISAPPEAR UNTIL THE DISPUTE IS
RESOLVED.
TEXT: FOR MOST OF THE WORLD, THE CONFLICT OVER THE WESTERN
SAHARA HAS BEEN DISTANT WAR OVER A VAST, LARGELY UNINHABITED
TERRITORY PART OF AFRICA. YET FOR MOROCCO AND THE POLISARIO
FRONT, WHICH FOUGHT A 15-YEAR WAR FOR OVER THE TERRITORY, IT IS A
WOUND THAT HAS YET TO HEAL.
ONE OF THE VESTIGES OF THE WAR IS A GROUP OF 400 MOROCCAN
PRISONERS CAPTURED BY THE POLISARIO FRONT AND HELD IN A DESERT
CAMP IN SOUTHWESTERN ALGERIA NOT FAR FROM THE BORDER WITH WESTERN
SAHARA.
THE CAMP IS SMALL, NO LARGER THAN A FOOTBALL FIELD. INSIDE A HIGH
WALL OF MUD BRICKS, CEMENT DWELLINGS SHAPED LIKE (ESKIMO) IGLOOS
ARE STACKED SIDE BY SIDE AND ON TOP OF EACH OTHER. THEY ARE
PAINTED WHITE TO REFLECT THE SUN.
INSIDE THE DWELLINGS LIES A RABBIT WARREN OF PASSAGEWAYS IN WHICH
ONE MUST STOOP TO ENTER. SMALL DOORS COVERED BY CURTAINS OPEN
INTO THE CELLS. THE PASSAGEWAYS ARE LINED WITH COMMUNAL ARTICLES
OF LIVING, BROOMS, BASINS, POTS, PANS, AND PLASTIC CONTAINERS OF
WATER, WHICH FREQUENTLY IS IN SHORT SUPPLY HERE.
OUTSIDE, ON ONE SIDE OF THE SANDY COURTYARD, A CLOTH SHELTER HAS
BEEN ERECTED ON POLES. IN ITS SHADE SIT ABOUT 100 MEN WATCHING
ALGERIAN TELEVISION. BORED AND SLEEPY, THEY BARELY ACKNOWLEDGE
THE ARRIVAL OF THE VISITORS AT FIRST.
THEY ARE MOROCCAN SOLDIERS, PRISONERS OF WAR. SOME OF THEM HAVE
BEEN HERE FOR 20 YEARS.
ONE OF THE MOST SENIOR IS AN ARMY CAPTAIN FROM MARAKESH (IN
CENTRAL MOROCCO). A TALL MAN WITH CLOSE-CROPPED WHITE HAIR, HE
PREFERS NOT TO GIVE HIS NAME. HE WAS CAPTURED IN 1981.
///ACT OF CAPTAIN -- IN ARABIC, AND UNDER///
THE MOROCCAN CAPTAIN SAYS THE PROBLEM IS CLEAR AND THERE IS A
FORMULA TO RESOLVE IT THROUGH THE UNITED NATIONS. HE DOES NOT
WANT TO DISCUSS THE DISPUTE, SAYING IT IS POLITICS AND HE IS ONLY
A SOLDIER. ASKED WHAT HE DOES TO PASS AWAY THE TIME, HE SAYS
SIMPLY, WATCH TELEVISION AND SLEEP.
THE CHIEF WARDEN OF THE PRISON SAYS THE PRISONERS ARE FREE TO DO
WHAT THEY WANT AND, FOR THE MOST PART, THEY GET ALONG WITH THE
GUARDS. HE SAYS THE HAVE LIVED TOGETHER A LONG TIME AND ARE LIKE
BROTHERS.
///ACT OF WARDEN IN ARABIC -- IN FULL AND UNDER ///
THE WARDEN SAYS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR THE PRISONERS IS THE TIME
WHICH DRAGS ON AND ON. THE MAIN WAY TO RESOLVE THIS, HE SAYS, IS
TO HOLD THE REFERENDUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE DISPUTED TERRITORY.
///OPT/// ACROSS THE DESERT, SEVERAL DOZEN KILOMETERS AWAY LIES
THE POLISARIO'S WAR MUSEUM. IT IS A DESERT FORT. INSIDE, ON THE
SAND, SIT SAMPLES OF THE BOOTY FROM THE WAR: DESERT TANKS, LARGE
ARTILLERY GUNS, WRECKAGE FROM A FIGHTER JET, INCLUDING ITS
EJECTION.SEATS AND PILOTS HELMETS, SEVERAL CASINGS FOR CLUSTER
BOMBS, AND HUNDREDS OF LAND MINES.
AT LEAST 12 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LANDMINES HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED AND
PLACED IN NEAT ROWS ACCORDING TO SIZE. THE SMALLER ONES ARE ABOUT
THE SIZE OF PILL BOXES, THE LARGER ONES, THE SIZE OF HAT BOXES.
THEY LOOK HARMLESS, LYING IN THE DUST. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF THEM
LYING UNDER THE SAND IN THE NO-MAN'S LAND THAT ACTS AS A BUFFER
ZONE BETWEEN POLISARIO POSITIONS AND THE MOROCCAN DEFENSE LINE.
THE HEAD OF THE WAR MUSEUM, DAR BURHAH, SHOWS A MODEL OF THE
DEFENSIVE WALL, OR BERM AS IT IS CALLED. IT IS A 27-HUNDRED
KILOMETER-LONG WALL OF SAND THAT STRETCHES ALONG THE BORDER WITH
ALGERIA AND MAURITANIA.
///ACT OF BURHAH IN ARABIC///
OFFICER BURHAH EXPLAINS THAT MOROCCO MUST MAINTAIN A FORCE OF
200-THOUSAND TROOPS ALONG THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE WALL ALONE.
HE SAYS NEITHER SIDE WANTS TO FIGHT ANYMORE AND BOTH SIDES WANT
THE PROBLEM RESOLVED. /// END OPT ///
BOTH MOROCCO AND THE POLISARIO SAY THEY WILL ACCEPT THE RESULTS
OF THE U-N SPONSORED REFERENDUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE TERRITORY,
ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE DISAGREED REPEATEDLY ON A CENSUS TO ESTABLISH
WHO CAN VOTE IN IT.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SELF-PROCLAIMED SAHARAWI REPUBLIC, MOHAMMED
ABDELAZIZ, TOLD VOA THAT ONLY THE REFERENDUM CAN DETERMINE THE
FUTURE OF THE WESTERN SAHARA.
///ABDELAZIZ ACT IN ARABIC -- IN FULL AND UNDER ///
MR. ABDELAZIZ SAYS THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE OF TWO CHOICES: A SAHARA
THAT IS PART OF MOROCCO, OR AN INDEPENDENT SAHARAWI REPUBLIC. HE
SAYS HIS GROUP HAS BEEN PATIENT, DESPITE THE REPEATED
POSTPONEMENTS OF THE REFERENDUM. BUT, IN AN OMINOUS REMARK, HE
SAYS IT WILL ONLY WAIT SO LONG BEFORE IT RETURNS TO FIGHTING.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SB/PCF/RAE
03-May-99 11:02 AM EDT (1502 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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