Polisario Front Denies Saadani’s Claims

Member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Liberation Front of Saguia el-Hamra and Oued Ed-Dahab (Polisario), Mohamed Lamine Ahmed, reacted strongly on Tuesday to the recent statements that were made by the former General Secretary of the National Liberation Front (FLN) Ammar Saadani on the issue of Western Sahara.

In a lengthy “Impressionist” message, which copy is obtained by Echorouk Online, Mohamed Lamine Ahmed, a prominent Sahrawi activist, instructed that “history may help turn these convictions into another, because the convictions of ignorant people continued for some time, until it hit its people, and Islam spread and changed the convictions of a number of people, and it spread with the argument and proof of revelation and determination of men”.

“I do not want to mug in the conviction of anybody until things will be clarified, and refer to the right is a virtue, as it is said, I just want to clarify some historical facts of Mr. Ammar Saadani to remind maybe this will benefit the faithful”, Lamine Ahmed continued.

The Polisario leader highlighted that before the colonial division at the Berlin Conferences of 1884 and 1885, there were well-established historical facts, evidenced by the treaty that was signed by Mohamed Ben Abdallah, one of the most powerful sultans of Morocco and Charles III of Spain on March 18, 1767.

Article 8 of the Treaty states that: “The Sultan of Morocco declares his reservation regarding the Catholic King’s desire to establish an institution for him south of the Noun Valley because he, the Sultan, cannot take responsibility for the events that will take place there or the tragedies that will occur, because his sovereignty does not reach that area and because the people there are dangerous and savage, and they have always caused tragedies and even enslaved the people of the Canary Islands.”

His successor, Moulay Asliman, signed another treaty with the Spanish on March 1, 1799, in Meknes, the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco at the time. The second treaty reaffirmed that the Sultan’s sovereignty does not extend beyond the Nun Valley in the south.

In turn, the Anglo-Moroccan Treaty of December 9, 1856, contained an assurance that the sovereignty of the Sultan of Morocco did not extend beyond the Wadi Noun.

By drawing up the Spanish-Moroccan Treaty of November 20, 1861, in Article 38, the previous agreements between the Sultans of Morocco and the kings of Spain were reaffirmed.

“This is not the words of the Sahrawis, but was referred to Mr. Ammar Saadani in the book of inquiry in the news of the Maghreb al-Aqsa to the author of the Moroccan Alaloui in 1832, which indicates that the region of the Maghreb (and calls it the west) is bordered east by the Moulouya River and the Taza Mountains, and north of the Mediterranean sea, and from the south of the Atlas Mountains”, Lamine Ahmed added.

The Sahrawi activist explained that al-Aloui drew this from the Maghreb social scientist and historian Ibn Khaldoun in his famous introduction. He says: “The geographical borders of the Far East from the east are the Moulouya River, which goes west to Safi, a point on the seashore, ending south to Darn, and some people say he meant Draa River.”

Lamine Ahmed wished Saadani would look the map to see the exact location of Wadi Noun and Draa River which is referred to in Ibn Khaldoun Moqadima (book), and to examine the history before his verdict may have fallen from it inadvertently, and from the words of history it is clearer picture, especially the history of this blessed area”.

Lamine Ahmed asserted that the matter is sensitive, in order to avoid opening the way for the policy of expansion on which the rulers of Morocco and a number of their politicians want to apply.

“Otherwise, Saadani is telling the rulers of the Maghreb that the lands that were taken away from you by the Berlin colonial agreements divided into Africa also include, as you demand, all the Mauritanian territories, the territory of northern Mali (Timbuktu and Azawad) and even Algerian lands such as Saoura, Touat, Adrar, and Raggan. Did not you fight a war in this month of 1963, and the wounds of the liberation soldiers of Algeria has not healed yet?”

Previously, Saadani said; “the Sahara is Moroccan and not something else, and carved out of Morocco at the Berlin conference. The issue of Western Sahara must end and the border must open and the relationships between Algeria and Morocco are settled because the money that is paid to the Polisario by Algeria should be given to Algerians instead.”