Letter to President Bush Supports Morocco's Western Sahara Initiative and
Receives Bipartisan Congressional Support
Says Peace in Western Sahara Could Be Major Blow to al-Qaeda
WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a serious example of
bipartisanship in foreign policy, 169 members of Congress signed a letter
endorsing Morocco's recently released peace plan to solve the 30-year
humanitarian crisis in North Africa's Western Sahara. Signers include House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
Virtually all of the House leadership on both sides the aisle endorsed the
letter (summary below). The Moroccan initiative, deemed "serious and
credible" by U.S. Department of State, would grant autonomy to the Western
Sahara while respecting Morocco's territorial integrity.
In the letter to President Bush, members of Congress stated, "[t]his
compromise is a breakthrough opportunity to find an enduring political
solution, and U.S. support is critical to its successful implementation. [
... ] With al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups expanding their presence in
North Africa, we are concerned that the failure to resolve this conflict of
more than 30 years poses a danger to U.S. and regional security, while
simultaneously preventing the economic integration of the Arab Maghreb
Union."
In a March 3, 2007 op-ed in The New York Times, former U.S. Ambassador
to Morocco, Fredrick Vreeland wrote, "Here is a rare instance, in the
post-9/11 world, in which a little encouragement from the United States and
other nations could pay large dividends, fostering not only a final
resolution for the region's refugees, but a stable North African peace for
the first time in decades and a model for conflict resolution in the Middle
East."
Additional supporters of the letter included: Committee on Foreign
Affairs Chairman, Tom Lantos and Ranking Minority Member Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen; Majority Whip Clyburn, Chairman of the Democratic Caucus,
Rahm Emanuel; Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, John B. Larson; Minority
Leader Boehner, House Republican Whip, Roy Blunt; Chairman of the
Republican Conference, Adam Putnam; and Chairman of the Republican House
Policy Committee, Thaddeus McCotter. More than 80 of the signers are either
committee chairmen or ranking members of key committees, subcommittees and
elected leadership of the House.
Morocco Caucus Chairman, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Gary Ackerman,
Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, led
the effort.
Congress urged President Bush "to embrace this promising Moroccan
initiative so that it" precipitates a mutually acceptable settlement, and
undertake actions "necessary to achieve international acceptance" of the
initiative.
As a result of unresolved conflict between Morocco and a stateless
rebel group called the Polisario Front, 80,000 men, women and children
remain in the camps located in southern Algeria. In 2003, an Amnesty
International human rights report on the camps expressed serious concerns
about the lack of freedom of movement, association and expression granted
to the refugees living under Polisario control. The report also noted the
Polisario leadership was responsible for grave human rights abuses in the
camps.
While a cease-fire was signed in 1991, Algeria and the Polisario Front
have warehoused tens of thousands of refugees awaiting a long-term autonomy
plan. Recent terrorist attacks in Morocco and Algeria highlight the need to
resolve this issue and move the region toward greater economic stability,
regional security and increased international cooperation.
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit
organization whose principle mission is to inform opinion makers,
government officials and an interested public in the United States about
political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by
the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa,
the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
This material is distributed by DJE, Inc. and the Moroccan American
Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional
information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
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