VZCZCXRO1620
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #0940 1511827
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 311827Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6633
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3313
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5719
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4645
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3089
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0703

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000940 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2017 
TAGS: MO PBTS PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CONDITIONS IN WESTERN SAHARA 
 
REF: A. RABAT 573 
 
     ¶B. RABAT 572 
 
Classified by A/Polcouns Ian McCary for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: While recent weeks have seen many 
demonstrations of Sahrawis in Moroccan universities, unrest 
inside the territory remains limited.  At least nine Sahrawi 
students have recently received jail terms for their role in 
demonstrations.  In Sahara, Layoune reportedly remains quiet, 
with only isolated demonstrations, mostly by youth of high 
school age and below.  The Wali (Governor) of the territory 
acknowledged to us that a number of people were detained by 
police but he maintained they were shortly afterwards 
identified and released.  He contended that there have been 
no recent arrests for demonstrations.  Local human rights 
contacts are making detailed allegations that at least some 
of those detained were beaten.  On the week of May 20, a TDY 
Embassy officer witnessed a separatist demonstration of about 
200, mainly youths, in the Saharan town of Smara.  These 
demonstrations, which may have been in response to calls from 
the POLISARIO to mark their anniversary, appear to have been 
more restrained than those held in the same time frame in 
2005-2006.  The events illustrate that many Sahrawis remain 
pro-independence and see the POLISARIO as their 
representative.  However, the absence of widespread response 
suggests that residents of the territory are at least looking 
at the prospect of negotiations to resolve the conflict.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In recent days there have been convictions of 
Sahrawi students for disrupting public order.  On May 30, two 
separatist activists were sentenced in a court in Layounne to 
five years in prison and two others received a year and a 
half.  Meanwhile, five Sahrawi students detained in Agadir, 
southern Morocco, during politically-charged campus violence 
in early May were sentenced on May 30 to two months 
imprisonment. 
 
¶3. (C) Rabat Army Attache, in Sahara to visit MINURSO during 
the week of May 20, chanced upon a demonstration of about 200 
persons - mostly youths, just outside a small bidonville at 
the outskirts of town.  There was some rock throwing.  The 
number of police on the spot was limited, but ARMATT left the 
area before any denouement.  The demonstrators may not have 
been Sahara natives, but may have been Sahrawi immigrants 
from Southern Morocco, who make up a substantial portion of 
Smara's population (reftels). 
 
¶4. (C) In a late May telephone conversation, the Wali 
(Governor) of Layounne, the senior GOM official in the 
territory, assured Polcouns that there had been no arrests 
recently, although some persons had been briefly "detained 
and identified, then released."  The limited demonstrations 
were carried out solely by young students, he observed.  His 
technical staff questioned whether a recently released 
videoclip purporting to show demonstrators being violently 
dispersed by police during a May 20 demonstration, may not 
actually be footage from 2006.  In any case this was being 
stimulated, publicized and magnified by the POLISARIO, the 
Wali maintained.  Polcouns responded that the POLISARIO may 
have called for some action by its supporters, but stressed 
the necessity for security forces to exercise the utmost 
restraint, in order to enhance prospects for an agreed 
settlement. 
 
 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
RILEY