Tuesday, November 08, 2005

The Saharawi and The Basques

Do you remember that post where I called the Spanish politicians hypocrites for supporting the right of Western Sahara to its self-determination while doggedly refusing the same right to Basques and Catalonians?
Well, as it happens, the Saharawi stand by the Basques, and the other way around.
This comes to us via allAfrica.com:
Official visit of the Saharawi president to the Basque Country

The Saharawi President was received in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and San Sebastian. During a reception given by the lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe in Vitoria, the latter declared that he hoped the Saharawi people would not be the forgotten people of the 21st century. The Saharawi President, for his part, expressed his concern for the situation of Saharawi citizens in the occupied territory, in southern Morocco and in the refugee camps. He considered that relations between the two peoples Basque and Saharawi would be very useful during the construction of the Saharawi state after independence. Mohamed Abdelaziz denounced "Morocco's intransigence" and reaffirmed that the problem of Western Sahara should be resolved "in accordance with international law", in the course of a reception organised in his honour by the Mayor of Bilbao, Inaki Azkuna. The official visit of President Abdelaziz to the Basque country finished with talks with political officials in the provinces of Alava and Gipuzkoa.
I wonder how Madrid is going to react to this one.

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