Sahara elected representatives in Oslo

A delegation of elected representatives from the Sahara made a trip to Norway, where they had talks in Oslo on Tuesday, with Vebjorn dysvik, Deputy Director General of Regional Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Michael Tetzschner, Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Parliament; and Ingjerd Schou, a member of this committee.

The Moroccan parliamentary delegation members expounded before their Norwegian interlocutors the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as a basis for a final political settlement of the Sahara conflict.

The delegation members also highlighted the different aspects of the socio-economic development carried out in the southern provinces.

President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Regional Council and head of the delegation, Yanja El Khattat, described the meetings as “fruitful and positive”, saying that it was an opportunity for the Norwegian side to have a clearer idea of the Sahara conflict.

The delegation members also highlighted the role of Morocco in the Maghreb region in terms of security and stability, thanks to the development process carried out under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.

After Norway, the delegation is planning visits to Iceland, Sweden, Germany and Ireland, in order to deflate the false propaganda of the Polisario, which claims wrongly the status of “sole and legitimate representative” of the populations of the Sahara. Many Scandinavian leaders and civil society activists have been deceived by this propaganda.

“We have cleared out some myths circulated by the Polisario separatists, with supporting evidence, especially with regard to representativeness of the Sahraoui population,” said Ahmed Lakhrif, secretary of the House of Councilors.

This former secretary of state for Foreign Affairs explained that the members of the delegation and other elected representatives of the Sahara provinces are the genuine representatives of the Sahraoui people. “We constitute the majority…80% of the Sahraouis are settled in the Moroccan Southern provinces, not on the other side,” he said.

In addition to MM. El Khattat and Lakhrif, the delegation includes Mohamed Razma, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Chamber of Advisors; Fatima Seida, 2nd Vice-President of the Laayoune Sakia-Al Hamra Regional Council; and Mrabih Rabou Shaibata, member of the Tarfaya Provincial Council.