Speaking at the House of Representatives' question time, Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri said that the government has reaffirmed its resolve to continue taking all necessary steps and making contacts with the concerned human rights organizations, mainly the UNHCR, to unveil all the truth about Mustapha Salma, put an end to his kidnapping and enable him to exercise his basic rights, especially the right to free speech and movement.

    The government, he went on to say, is convinced that the issue of Mustapha Salma is among thousands of cases which shows the refusal of outdated dictatorial methods dating back to the sixties.

    He added that this case provides a striking proof of the positive response of our brothers held captive in the camps of Tindouf in favour of the autonomy initiative as a historic opportunity given by HM the King to reach a final solution, resolve this long-running artificial regional conflict, and put an end to centuries of totalitarian thinking, despotic military indoctrination, deprivation and division.

    "This criminal fact, he went on, mirrored anew to what extent the contradictions of our territorial integrity's enemies are blatant, an example of which is this vile attitude which is heedless of the man’s natural right to free speech and movement."

    Moreover, he said, the polisario group has the impertinence to assume the right to deny to Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud his status as refugee, whereas Algeria is the duly authorized party, by virtue of the international humanitarian law, to accept or refuse the presence of any refugee on its territory, knowing that Mustapha Salma dwells in the camps as a refugee and, as a consequence, comes with the exclusive competence of the High Commissioner for Refugees as far as his protection and the assistance he is entitled to are concerned.

    The Minister recalled that Mustapha Salma was a victim, on his way back home to join his family in the camps of Tindouf, of a cowardly abduction operation, on September 21, by the polisario militia in complicity with the Algerian intelligence services.

    Once this vile kidnapping occurred, Taib Fassi Fihri added, the government of HM the King vehemently denounced this illegal, illegitimate and inacceptable act, and condemned the measures of retaliation against members of his family which pay no heed to our religion’s teachings of tolerance, as well as international conventions and human values.

    He said that the Moroccan diplomacy was swift in making intensive contacts at the highest level, particularly with the UN Secretariat, the UNHCR and the OHCHR.

    It also took, at the bilateral level, several steps with several countries and their national institutions.

    With the same vigor, the government expressed its adamant refusal of the baseless allegations which the other parties tried to resort to in order to take advantage of this case and give voice to their false slogans, claiming that Mustapha Salma was arrested on the so-called “freed territories” or brought before courts to answer to what they have called “a violation of the Sahrawi criminal law” of this artificial entity, while the international community is perfectly aware of the conditions and clear legal situation within the zone eastern of the berm.

    Fassi Fihri hailed the positions and demonstrations organized at the local and national levels to defend Mustapha Salma by several organizations and political bodies, especially the stances of the Action Committee for the Release of Mustafa Salma.

    The Minister also lauded the perfect harmony and excellent complementarity between official diplomacy and popular diplomacy in all its components, noting that such solidarity campaigns have received a wide response at the international level, as evidenced by solidarity stances of friendly countries, nongovernmental organizations, human rights centers and networks and influential bodies.

   Fassi Fihri stressed that Mustapha Salma, who was abducted with his mother and his brothers in 1979 at the age of 11, is an example of an entire generation of victims who grew up in the Tindouf camps on the Algerian soil, in an environment marred by all forms of dictatorship and despair.

    During his visit to the southern provinces, including Smara to meet his father, Salma took note of the political, economic and social transformations witnessed by this region, Fihri recalled.

    He added that, on August, Salma announced his rejection of the ideology of exclusion that prevails among the “polisario” and decided once he returns to the Tindouf camps to defend the autonomy initiative, deeming it the suitable solution to end the artificial crisis created by the leaders of Algeria and the best opportunity to resolve the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara and release the Sahrawis of Lahmada camps.