More than 2,000 people formed a human chain Saturday multicolor against Moroccan military wall that divides the Western Sahara to order its demolition, the holding of a referendum on self-determination of the Saharawi people the end of the occupation of the territory. The participants, mostly English and Saharawi, with Italian and Algerian-joined hands in a long chain length and parallel to the wall about three feet of sand, stones and barbed wire.
action lasted about 45 minutes and took place 500 meters from the point of the wall known as the "pocket" near the corner border of Algeria and Mauritania.
The human chain was subsequently split into different groups, and singing and the distinctive hoot of Sahrawi women, shouted slogans like "guilty Morocco, Spain responsible" and "Freedom for Sahara."
The white robes contrasted with the English Melfa (traditional colorful costumes Saharawi women), the dark clothes of men in the area and dozens of flags of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
Beiruk
Mohamed Ali, Saharawi photographer of 24 years who participated in the formation of the chain, noted that "the only solution is war, because after 32 years of talking has not done anything"
Fadel, another Saharawi refugee, who at 54 years are encouraged to join the protest against the Moroccan construction, said the conflict "will have a negotiated end" because otherwise "the war will" because the Polisario Front "can not have young arms crossed."
The action, which also involved some children and Sahrawi veterans passed without incident in a flat, rocky desert, supervised by members of the UN mission for Western Sahara (MINURSO) on board five military jeeps with Uruguay, Italy, Brazil and Malaysia.
A UN helicopter also flew over the area throughout the course of the protest.
At the same time, about ten Moroccan soldiers observed the participants perched on the wall and even saw one of them walking nearby.
Organizers of the march participants consistently warned of the risk of mines in the area where you can still see remnants of munitions of war between Morocco and the Polisario, such as a grenade.
Participants they left at dawn from the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria, moved to the wall in a dozen trucks and dozens of SUVs prepared by the Polisario, which is also responsible for the provisioning, security and health care.
The tour lasted about three hours in a cold and somewhat windy morning over a dusty plain dotted with acacia trees just desert.
During this week, about 2,500 English have moved to the Saharawi refugee camps to see the situation in which they live, collaborate on projects of cooperation and participate in human chain around the wall, according to organizers trip.
The protest action called "Pillar of 1,000" is an initiative of the group will and determination, made by students of Journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, which envisioned a nonviolent movement against the "injustice and neglect" endured by the Sahrawi people.
The idea came a year ago, after they first college visit Sahrawi camps in Algeria to see first hand how refugees live and had the support of the State Coordinator of Friends of the Saharawi people of Spain and the Association of Saharawi Prisoners and Disappeared.
The wall of sand, stone and barbed wire -The longest in the world with 2,720 kilometers built in Morocco between 1980 and 1987.
Plagued by hundreds of thousands of antipersonnel and antitank mines, the wall crosses the former English colony almost from north to south, so that its inhabitants have become separated.
Moroccans controlled the western two-thirds of the territory and along the upper north and the Polisario dominates the eastern side, bordering Algeria and Mauritania.
In 1991 it was agreed a ceasefire after 16 years of war overseen by the UN, he supported a referendum on self-determination and a mission to the Sahara to its conclusion, but Morocco has rejected until the completion of the consultation citing disagreements with the composition of the voters.
action lasted about 45 minutes and took place 500 meters from the point of the wall known as the "pocket" near the corner border of Algeria and Mauritania.
The human chain was subsequently split into different groups, and singing and the distinctive hoot of Sahrawi women, shouted slogans like "guilty Morocco, Spain responsible" and "Freedom for Sahara."
The white robes contrasted with the English Melfa (traditional colorful costumes Saharawi women), the dark clothes of men in the area and dozens of flags of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
Beiruk
Mohamed Ali, Saharawi photographer of 24 years who participated in the formation of the chain, noted that "the only solution is war, because after 32 years of talking has not done anything"
Fadel, another Saharawi refugee, who at 54 years are encouraged to join the protest against the Moroccan construction, said the conflict "will have a negotiated end" because otherwise "the war will" because the Polisario Front "can not have young arms crossed."
The action, which also involved some children and Sahrawi veterans passed without incident in a flat, rocky desert, supervised by members of the UN mission for Western Sahara (MINURSO) on board five military jeeps with Uruguay, Italy, Brazil and Malaysia.
A UN helicopter also flew over the area throughout the course of the protest.
At the same time, about ten Moroccan soldiers observed the participants perched on the wall and even saw one of them walking nearby.
Organizers of the march participants consistently warned of the risk of mines in the area where you can still see remnants of munitions of war between Morocco and the Polisario, such as a grenade.
Participants they left at dawn from the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria, moved to the wall in a dozen trucks and dozens of SUVs prepared by the Polisario, which is also responsible for the provisioning, security and health care.
The tour lasted about three hours in a cold and somewhat windy morning over a dusty plain dotted with acacia trees just desert.
During this week, about 2,500 English have moved to the Saharawi refugee camps to see the situation in which they live, collaborate on projects of cooperation and participate in human chain around the wall, according to organizers trip.
The protest action called "Pillar of 1,000" is an initiative of the group will and determination, made by students of Journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, which envisioned a nonviolent movement against the "injustice and neglect" endured by the Sahrawi people.
The idea came a year ago, after they first college visit Sahrawi camps in Algeria to see first hand how refugees live and had the support of the State Coordinator of Friends of the Saharawi people of Spain and the Association of Saharawi Prisoners and Disappeared.
The wall of sand, stone and barbed wire -The longest in the world with 2,720 kilometers built in Morocco between 1980 and 1987.
Plagued by hundreds of thousands of antipersonnel and antitank mines, the wall crosses the former English colony almost from north to south, so that its inhabitants have become separated.
Moroccans controlled the western two-thirds of the territory and along the upper north and the Polisario dominates the eastern side, bordering Algeria and Mauritania.
In 1991 it was agreed a ceasefire after 16 years of war overseen by the UN, he supported a referendum on self-determination and a mission to the Sahara to its conclusion, but Morocco has rejected until the completion of the consultation citing disagreements with the composition of the voters.
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