Mbeki: Western Sahara needs self-determination

MIDRAND, South
Africa: South African
President Thabo
Mbeki urged fellow
Africans on Thursday
to "do everything
possible" to uphold the
self-determination of
the Western Sahara, a
day after his
government formally
recognized the
Sahrawi Arab
Democratic Republic.

The move caused a diplomatic spat with Morocco, which
annexed the territory after Spanish colonists withdrew in
1975 and which responded by recalling its ambassador from
Pretoria.

"It is a matter of great shame and regret to all of us that
nevertheless the issue of self-determination for the people of
Western Sahara remains unresolved," Mbeki said in his
address at the opening of the Pan-African Parliament in
Midrand, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

"This presents all of us with the challenge to ensure that we
do everything possible to ensure that these sister people also
enjoy this fundamental and inalienable right, whose defense
by the entirety of our continent brought us our own
freedom," he said.

Daily Star