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afrol News, 28 September - Yesterday's legislative elections in Morocco were also held in the so-called "Southern Provinces" of the country, or Western Sahara, as the occupied territory is known internationally. This has caused Sahrawi officials to protest. According to Algerian TV, the Polisario Front - the Sahrawi liberation movement - earlier this week considered that the holding of the Moroccan legislative elections in the occupied Western Saharan territories "a violation of international legality which made the prevailing atmosphere more tense." A Polisario Front statement pointed out that the Moroccan elections only concerned Morocco and that the Saharan territory was "subject to the decolonisation process, which has not been completed." The Algerian state media also reported the Sahrawis believed that the holding of these elections in the occupied Saharan territories did "not contribute to the search for a peaceful solution, but a violation to international legality which could never under any circumstances be an alternative to a referendum that would put an end to the colonial presence, which contained a historical error." The Polisario statement concluded by saying that the presence of the UN in the region was evidence of the colonial situation which Morocco was insisting on despite the urgent Security Council and UN calls for respecting international legality. The Moroccan government under King Mohammed VI increasingly has treated the Western Sahara territory as an integrated part of Morocco despite international efforts to hold a referendum on the territory's independence. Increased Moroccan efforts to exploit the territory's natural resources have also caused concern and protest. Sources:
Based on press reports, Polisario and afrol archives
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