Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's position on the Moroccan prisoners being held by Polisario; the number of these prisoners; if they have been visited by the International Organisation of the Red Cross; the action the Government or the European Union has taken to secure their release; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18478/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Polisario are still holding 408 Moroccan prisoners, 14 years after the ceasefire between the two sides in 1991. A number of the prisoners are believed to have been held already for some years prior to 1991. They are visited in detention by the International Red Cross.

Over 800 prisoners held by Polisario have been released in the last two years. The Government firmly believes that there is a compelling humanitarian case that all remaining prisoners, held by either side, be released immediately and without preconditions. This view has been strongly conveyed to the Polisario. During the Irish presidency of the EU last year, Polisario released 200 of the remaining prisoners of war. The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Kitt, witnessed the release of the second group of 100 in June.

The Government will continue to press all parties to meet their humanitarian obligations without further delay. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Conor Lenihan, raised this issue with Polisario's European representative at a meeting in Dublin in December 2004.

At EU level, the Presidency wrote to the foreign ministers of Morocco and Algeria and the Secretary General of Polisario in March 2005, calling on them to meet their humanitarian obligations without delay.