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Thursday, November 11, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Morocco sends troops to W. Sahara as protests turn deadly

CAIRO — Morocco has intensified efforts to quell unrest in the disputed Western Sahara.

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Moroccan police and security forces have been targeting anti-government protests in Western Sahara, claimed by the Algerian-backed Polisario. This month, at least six people were killed in what diplomatic sources said marked the bloodiest civil unrest in the region in nearly 20 years.

"The clashes have been intense and many have been killed or injured," a diplomatic source who has been monitoring the violence said.

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On Nov. 8, hundreds of Moroccan troops raided a protest camp near the city of Laayoune in Western Sahara, Middle East Newsline reported. The troops were said to have encountered protesters, many of them with Polisario flags, who hurled stones, gas cylinders and makeshift bombs.

Opposition sources said the clashes, which took place as the United Nations arranged for talks on the future of Western Sahara, killed up to 16 people, most of them Moroccan officers.

Morocco has acknowledged the protests, saying at least five officers were killed. Officials said troops, who employed tear gas, high-pressure water hoses and batons, were sent to raid the Gdam Izik camp amid reports that many of the 12,000 residents had been held against their will by Polisario.

"Only four civilians were injured," Moroccan Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui said.

The Moroccan Interior Ministry said the Royal Gendarmerie and Civil Defense arrested criminal fugitives. The ministry said the hour-long raid of Gdam took place after two weeks of negotiations to disband the camp, established to protest conditions in nearby Laayoune.

"The detainees include ex-convicts, individuals wanted for petty crime, and opportunists, who are in no way related to the social demands, but exploited them for their political aims in accordance with a well-defined agenda," the ministry said. "The arrested people will be brought before justice after the conclusion of the investigation."

Over the last three years, Polisario has repeatedly threatened to renew its confrontation with Morocco. The movement, which controls refugee camps in the Tindouf region, has rejected Morocco's offer for autonomy for Western Sahara.

"I shall never abandon my loyal subjects in the Tindouf camps, or wherever else they may," Morocco's King Mohammed said. "We shall spare no effort to enable them to enjoy their basic rights to freedom of expression and movement and their right of return to their homeland."




Comments


Dream on Polisario or SADR or whatever. Of course the Sahara is a legitimate Morrocan territory and it will never be handed to a bunch of rebels financed and helped by Algeria who has deep interests in the desert. Do you really think that the Sahara will be an independent state? No sir, it will be like a little puppet for the Algerian regime, and that's why the Algerians have been backing them for all these years, to gain access to the Atlantic and further their own agenda. Will we Moroccans fall for such a cheap trick? I DON'T THINK SO! We are sovereign in our land and the same way we fought the French will fight anyone as long as it takes and at whatever cost! But dear Algerians, forget it about outsmarting us, IT AIN'T GONNA WORK, PERIOD!!

joxa Toni      7:06 p.m. / Friday, November 12, 2010

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