Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will respond to correspondence (details supplied) [42078/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the case raised by the Deputy which was also notified to my Department by the Moroccan Embassy on 19 October. Mr. Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, a Moroccan Sahrawi, was detained on 21 September by the Polisario Front. Mr. Mouloud lived with his wife and family in the el-Ayoun camp, a Polisario-run Sahrawi refugee camp near Tindouf, Algeria. Mr. Mouloud is understood to have held a news conference in Smara, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, on 9 August during which he advocated Morocco's autonomy initiative. On return to Polisario territory, he was arrested. Mr. Mouloud has now apparently been released but remains confined to the remote outpost of Mehriz, where the only telephone coverage is with satellite telephones. The Polisario have facilitated telephone contact with the UNHCR but have not allowed him to communicate with his family. UNHCR are apparently trying to organise Mr. Mouloud's safe passage to a country of his choice. I urge the Polisario to ensure that Mr. Mouloud's rights are respected, particularly his right to freedom of expression, and to allow Mr. Mouloud to contact his family.

Mr. Mouloud's case, and the regrettable violence causing the deaths of a number of people and injuries to dozens more resulting from attempts by Moroccan security forces to break up a peaceful protest camp on the outskirts of Laayoune earlier this week, highlights the urgent need for progress in resolving the ongoing and long-standing dispute regarding Western Sahara. Representatives of the Polisario Front, Morocco and Algeria, together with other interested states, are meeting in New York this week to discuss this issue. Ireland supports the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara as well as the continuing engagement of the United Nations in the search for a political solution in the territory based on the principle of self-determination.

I strongly support the continuing efforts of UN Secretary General Ban's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, to bring about substantive negotiations on the future of the Western Sahara. Mr. Ross has recently completed a tour of the region in an effort to resolve some of the issues preventing constructive engagement between Morocco and the Polisario. He is hosting the further round of informal discussions this week. Previous rounds of informal talks were held in New York and Austria, most recently in February this year. It is my hope that the two sides use this opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue and do not allow themselves to be deterred by the recent worsening of relations. It is unfortunately clear that in the previous rounds of talks there has been no real engagement between the two sides on the substantive issues.

The critical blockage remains Morocco's refusal to allow a referendum in the territory which would include an option of independence for the people of the Western Sahara. This has been provided for in a number of UN peace plans, and it is difficult to see that there can be any genuine self-determination without such a referendum. Ireland will continue its dialogue with both Morocco and the Polisario, through their representatives based here in Ireland, to encourage support for the UN Secretary General's good offices mission and the efforts of Personal Envoy Ross to achieve some measure of political progress and increased confidence between both sides.