Rabat and Polisario Front dispute EU fishing license in Western Sahara waters

The foreign affairs minister, Trinidad Jiménez, believes that the fishing agreement between the European Union and Morocco should include the waters off Western Sahara, despite the protests of the pro-independence Polisario Front, which accuses Rabat of sucking the resources of the disputed territory dry.

At a meeting of the Joint Congress-Senate Committee for the European Union on Tuesday, Jiménez defended the government's stance under questions from Basque Nationalist Party senator Iñaki Anasagasti. The minister stated that the current agreement, which allows European fishing fleets to harvest Morocco's waters under a license worth an annual - 36 million to Rabat, should be renewed "under the same terms" as when it was first signed in 2005. United Nations protocol demands that economic interests in non-self governing states be in accordance with the wishes of the people therein. The EU has proposed a one-year extension of the current agreement in order to gauge whether Rabat can prove that the deal is beneficial to the Sahrawi people.

The European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, Maria Damanaki, has proposed the exclusion of the waters off the coast of Western Sahara - where 80 percent of the 101-vessel strong Spanish fleet carry out their activities - after the judicial service of the EU questioned the ability of Rabat to oversee the exploitation of seas over which it does not hold sovereignty. Jiménez stated on Tuesday that no legal objections were raised when the original agreement was signed.

A Polisario Front delegation, led by its head of foreign affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, held a meeting on Tuesday with the Popular Party's coordinator of international policy, Jorge Moragas. The previous day, the delegation had broken off a similar meeting with the government.

Moragas, who described the meeting as "cordial," made plain that the PP would remain faithful to the consensus over the dispute laid out in parliamentary resolutions. The text regarding Western Sahara's fight for independence reads: "International legislation recognizes the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and, although this may be exercised in distinct ways, the correct path is the referendum."

Moragas, who met recently with the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid, said he was surprised by the distancing between the Socialists and the Polisario Front. Moragas stated that Spain should foster direct negotiation between Western Sahara and Rabat, which are scheduled to resume talks on March 8, in Malta.