After my Russian wizard of manual therapy got his hands on me last year and ordered me to do some special exercises each day, my knees – they had gotten pretty injured on my solo trekking with an overweight backpack in Tierra del Fuego and kept me from skiing without a knee-braces for a few years – got surprisingly better and I started to jog again. Bicycling also helped my knees, but not my head. Which is another story, of course.

Anyway, with running returning back into my life and after having been so inspired by working with Saharawi refugees this August, I started to play with the idea to join the Sahara marathon in February 2010. But since I have never done a full marathon before and I was afraid that my knees were not up to it, and that perhaps I did not have enough time to get ready properly, while in Norway in October, I asked my friend, a triathlon/ironman/marathon/superwoman, to give me some advice and evaluation, since she has done like thousands of marathons and supermarathons and all of this.

So, she was talking to me for about twenty minutes, telling me basically to not worry, and ending it with the sentence:

“I mean, Robert, it is really not a big deal, it is only 42 kilometres, after all, come on, no problem…”

Then there was silence.

I tried to smile but then I realized she was not joking at all. Not at all!

So I took another sip of the tea.

Feeling confused. Not strong. Not big. And somewhat old, though this friend of mine is about ten years older. And I agreed with her, of course: “Yeah, right, it is only 42 kilometres, quite ridiculous to worry, sure thing…”

Nowadays, when I struggle jogging back home, already managing to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I try to be positive, thinking: “…yeah, not a big deal, sure, eight times that much and it is a full marathon, yeah, nothing to worry about…”

But I have, cautiously, decided to do the marathon in 2011. In order to be REALLY ready, you know…

Maybe.

A big strong man – yeah right!

«Sono con te» Una lettera di Saramago

Cara Aminatou Haidar,
se fossi a Lanzarote sarei al tuo fianco. E non perché tu sia una militante separatista, come ti ha definito l’ambasciatore del Marocco, ma esattamente per il contrario: credo che il pianeta sia di tutti e tutti abbiamo il diritto al nostro spazio per poter vivere in armonia.
Credo che i separatisti sono quelli che separano le persone dalla loro terra, le cacciano, cercano di sradicarle perché, divenendo qualcosa di diverso da quello che sono, gli uni acquisiscano maggior potere e gli altri perdano la loro auto-stima e finiscano per essere inghiottiti dalla sopraffazione.
Il Marocco con il Sahara viola tutte le regole della buona condotta. Disprezzare i sahrawi è la dimostrazione che la carta dei diritti umani non ha valore nella società marocchina, che non protesta per quello che si fa con i suoi vicini; ed è, soprattutto, l’evidenza che il Marocco non rispetta se stesso: chi è sicuro del suo passato non ha bisogno di espropriare chi sta al suo fianco per esprimere una grandezza che mai nessuno gli riconoscerà.
Perché se il potere del Marocco riuscirà a piegare i sahrawi, quel paese, per altri versi ammirevole, avrà ottenuto la più triste delle vittorie, una vittoria senza onore, per nulla luminosa, acquisita sulla vita e sui sogni di tanta gente che voleva vivere in pace nella sua terra e con i suoi vicini per fare del continente, tutti insieme, un luogo più abitabile.
Cara Aminatou Haidar: hai dato un esempio valoroso riconosciuto in tutto il mondo. Non mettere in pericolo la tua vita perché davanti a te hai ancora da combattere molte battaglie, e tu sei necessaria.
Noi, tuoi amici, amici del tuo popolo porteremo il testimone in tutte le sedi necessarie. Al governo di Spagna chiediamo che mostri sensibilità. Con te, con la tua gente. Sappiamo bene che i rapporti internazionali sono molto complicati, ma sono passati molti anni da quando è stasta abolita la schiavitù delle persone e dei popoli. Non si tratta di umanitarismo: le risoluzioni delle Nazioni unite, il diritto internazionale e il senso comune stanno da una parte sola, e questo in Marocco e in Spagna lo sanno.
Lasciamo che Aminatou ritorni a casa con il riconoscimento del suo valore, alla luce del sole, perché sono le persone come lei che danno personalità al nostro tempo, e senza Aminatu tutti saremmo più poveri. Il problema non ce l’ha Aminatou, ce l’ha il Marocco. E può risolverlo, dovrà risolverlo, e non rispetto a una fragile donna ma a tutto un popolo che non si arrende perché non può capire né la irrazionalità né la voracità espansionista, propria di altri tempi e di altri livelli di civilizzazione.
Un abbraccio molto forte, cara Aminatou Haidar.
Josè Saramago

Molti altri video li trovate caricati sul canale del Diario de Lanzarote, qui su youtube.

Take action sul sito di Amnesty Internacional USA, qui per scrivere a Hillary Clinton.

Quick translation of an interesting editorial in Morocco’s outspoken weekly Le Journal hebdomadaire, in the form of a fictive letter from a “Sahrawi friend” describing how his cost/benefit analysis of Western Saharan independence is shifting. Shorter version: the present regime in Morocco can’t win Sahrawi hearts and minds.

_____________________________________________________________________

DEAR FRIEND,

This letter isn’t real. It doesn’t exist, and we hope it will never exist. One could name all the reasons we think that the Sahara is Moroccan, but that’s not the question. We don’t need to convince ourselves. We’re part of the overwhelming majority that is already convinced. What we need to do is to freely analyze our policy towards this conflict. Are we on the right path? This exercise aims to make us reflect upon that. – ABOUBAKR JAMAÏ, Le Journal hebdomadaire.

“You ask me whether I prefer to live in an independent Sahrawi state if I was allowed the choice? Actually, I’m divided on this issue.

“In contrast to some of my Sahrawi friends, I’m not convinced that independence is the only possible way for me and my own to flourish. They think that independence is the only possible way to guarantee our collective and individual rights. Bottom line, they haven’t convinced me. At the same time, I won’t deny that, as of late, I’ve begun reflecting on this idea of independence more seriously, and on what it would mean for us. But before I tell you what I think today, I’d like to tell you how my opinions have developed.

“In September 1999, I was 20 years old. That year saw my political awakening, more precisely during the manifestations that Driss Basri’s police forces so harshly repressed. I was among those who took to the street to show how sick we were of the way the central government managed our region.  We wanted respect and good governance. We’d had enough of this policy of fattening our Sheikhs and beating and imprisoning our youth, and of the so-called leaders of the Sahara who were made ministers and rich governors and hung around their villas in the Souissi quarter of Rabat, and came down to show off for us…

King Mohamed VI visiting El Aaiún, the main city of Western Sahara.

“We thought that with the death of Hassan II, Morocco would have changed. The young king brought a new mood with him, and he was said to be close to the civil society which I admired so much. That the new king wanted to put Morocco – put us – on the path to democracy seemed totally credible.

“And, to be honest, back in those days we thought the alternative to Moroccan sovereignty was Mohamed Abdelaziz and the Polisario. For me, that was an easy choice. Sure, the old ones spoke about the legendary Brahim El Ouali, an El Ouali Mustapha Sayid who was for the Moroccanity of the Sahara at first, but then changed his mind due to repression from the hardliners in the regime. They also told us that Abdelaziz was just a leader among several, that there were other more intellectual and charismatic figures in the Polisario. Fine, but what I saw was an organization that, sure, it was made up of earnest Sahrawis, but at the same time it was under the jackboot of Algerian security. I couldn’t see myself in a state run by those people. Exchanging the Moroccan monarchy for agents of the Algerian army? No thanks.

“Especially not with the promising Mohammed VI on the other side. As you can see, I believed in him. Even my pro-independence pals calmed down a bit. But then time just passed without anything really changing.

Aminatou Haidar, after being beaten by Moroccan police in 2005, just before being sent to jail for participating in a pro-independence demonstration. She's presently in exile.

“Actually a whole new pro-independence generation has emerged. A generation which is more seductive, more democratic. This Haidar, for example. She’s really cool. You’ve seen how some people call her the ‘Sahrawi Gandhi’? Yeah, think about it! To know she was beaten and mistreated by the police, that really got to me.

“She’s not a terrorist, after all. And even terrorists have rights. Still, I didn’t always agree with her at first – but seeing what they’d done to her and her friends, I started asking questions. You realize that they were transferring teachers and activists and radical leftists and members of the Forum for Truth and Justice [FVJ, a human rights group] all over Morocco, because of their political activities? Even worse, they threw them out of the Forum.

“That – now that got me thinking. It was organizations like the Forum that had made the new regime appealing to me. For me, it was the fact that they existed and were able to work freely that had made it possible to believe in a democratic Morocco. Haidar and her people also made me think, because they weren’t Polisario’s playthings – at least I don’t think so.

“I told myself that, when you look at the recent experiences of independence processes under the UN, they’re not that bad. Sure, they have problems, but they’re democracies. And I’d hope that my future co-citizens would have the brains not to vote for daddy Abdelaziz. Perhaps for one of the kids who are getting beat up by the Moroccan regime right now? Or why not for Aminatou – wouldn’t that be something, the first “Ms. President” to be elected in an Arab and Muslim country?

“Then what? We’d be 300,000 citizens with rich seas, phosphates, beautiful tourist sites, and probably oil as well. I haven’t added it all up yet, but do we really need to? And just for good measure, we’d let the US install a military base too. Not Guantánamo-style, of course, but it would let them fight that al-Qaida in the Sahel which worries them so much… and we’d turn into a strategic ally of the United States of America.

“So, yeah, I’ve started to question some things. I really did dream of a united Morocco, but a democratic one. With this controlled justice system, these businessmen of the regime who hog all the best economic opportunities, these trampled liberties – I’ve started questioning things.

“But, you see, I’m going to have a son now. Suddenly my hopes are not just for myself, but for the little one and for what I leave him to inherit. I want him to live a dignified life. I want him to live in a world, a country, where you can dream and realize your dream. I, who was hoping that Morocco would be that country, now doubt it.”

And here’s a really interesting interview in Morocco’s Le Journal Hebdo (French) with Martin Indyk, where he describes his dealings with King Hassan II during the Clinton administration. Not to be missed.

The Great mosque (El Aaiún, Western Sahara)

Cargado originalmente por SANAbananaBANA

new ad main mosque in the city

The Sahel Blog has a post up about slavery in Mauritania, a major but neglected human rights issue in the West Africa and Sahel region, where millions of people are still subject to various forms of hereditary social discrimination, ranging from outsider status to outright slavery. While there is a black/white element to it in some areas, one shouldn’t confuse this with US traditions of skin-color based labor slavery among captured peoples. It’s more an outgrowth of traditional tribal culture, local adaptions of ancient Islamic rulings on slavery, and hereditary social stratification in nomad communities, and it has existed in various forms as a fact of life for hundreds of years. It’s quite repugnant nonetheless, of course, but understanding the context is important to realizing how deeply-rooted and hard to destroy these notions are.

Also, it’s not only among the Moors of Mauritania. The caste-like traditions that underpin these practices also apply to varying degrees to the closely related Sahrawi and other communities in Western Sahara, Morocco and Algeria (including among the Tindouf refugees, as this report from Human Rights Watch makes clear) as well as among non-Moorish, non-Arab Touareg communities in the wider Sahara, and also among several African peoples in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, etc. This is not to mention how traditional practices sometimes mix with modern slavery practices, tied to labor exploitation, warlordism, and such phenomena.

I’d like to suggest that people sign the following petition against the illegal exploitation of occupied Western Saharan waters by EU fishing vessels. This has been made possible by the EU’s granting of “Advanced Status” to Morocco, despite the latter’s continuing occupation of much of Western Sahara and the continuing efforts of the Moroccan government to subvert the UN mandated referendum on self determination for Western Sahara. The petition is open to organisations and individuals. Thanks.

http://www.fishelsewhere.eu/

Kms count: 400
Minefields crossed: 1
Hours spent crossing border: 6.5
Days of stay cut short by strict immigration officer: 7

We had been warned. But the warning was given once we were already in Morocco and so we didn’t exactly have a choice…

The border crossing from Morocco to Mauritania is known for being tough, frustrating and potentially time-consuming. It also involves a 7km road in no man’s land across a minefield.

NB: Mum, dad, worriers amongst you: I took a decision not to mention any of this until now because I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary concern. And I think that i made the right decision. As it turns out the minefield really wasn’t a problem at all… read on!

So in preparation for this and mindful of the fact that the Mauritanian entrance closed at 4pm, we rose early and got on the road at 5:30am in order to complete the 400 or so kms to the border. After a few early checkpoints, we pulled up for a routine toilet break to find an incredibly beautiful bay (photos to follow) with sand-dunes which we promptly ran up and down for our morning exercise. (days of excellent food accompanied by days of sitting still on a bus means we have a surplus of energy…!)

We arrived ahead of schedule at the border at 12pm thinking that we were on course for a lunchtime arrival at Nouadhibou, Mauritania. After 3.5hrs on just the Moroccan side, we realised we’d been overly optimistic. Waiting around in 40C heat was slightly uncomfortable but the queue of truck, sardine lorries and Dutch cyclists (going from Paris to Dakar by bike) meant that there was a lot of waiting to do. And it was no worse than we expected.

Next it was time for the minefield and registering with the UN to make the crossing. The mines in Western Sahara were planted over 20 years ago and the vast majority of injuries have been caused by people crossing the field away from unofficial routes. Apparently the minefield is there to control the movement of people through Western Sahara as well as to limit the amount of drug and people smuggling that currently goes on.

The crossing at this site is safe except when there is a sandstorm which there hasn’t been since April this year. In addition to this, a Paris-Dakar rally of pre-1951 vehicles recently passed through this minefield at 80kms and so we had a good, clear track to follow. But the crossing is still nerve-wracking and harrowing. The sight of blown up vehicles just 20m away really makes you think about what has happened before and it definitely felt wrong to take photos of the wreckages that were left. Luckily we managed to stop Jon and Andy from traveling on the roof of the vehicle (“for a better view”) because the exposed track was too rocky to give them a smooth ride and we definitely didn’t want them flying off the vehicle in a place like that!

By the time we arrived in Mauritania we had limited minutes before the controls officially closed. However, having made it that far, they agreed to let us in and then took a further 3 hours to do the relevant stamping and approval of our passports. Unfortunately though we were only given 3 days instead of our required 10 so we will need to extend the visas in Nouakchott. They do this to allow them to make more money from you and without a visa in advance, it is difficult to get more than 3 days if you don’t have a bribe for an official.

Our first stop in Mauritania was Nouadhibou where, after a long drive, we felt too tired to cook (which was great cos it was my turn!) and so went next door to the campsite to a Chinese restaurant (of all places!). Another night of interrupted sleep ensued (I think it was the eggs that I ate the other day) and after my 4:30am toilet visit, I returned to the tent in time for the 5am call to prayer from the mosque facing onto the campsite. The caller didn’t sound too pleased to be doing it and was slightly out of tune, so that, interspersed with some heavy snores from Rich’s tent, kept me awake a little longer than planned. Oh well, c’est la vie – luckily i have been catching some zzzzs along the way in the truck so am not exactly short of sleep!

Thats all I have time for today – sorry again to have posted a boring account of the last few days. We have at least covered a lot of ground and will have more time to do things in the next fortnight. I will update with photos and more fun stories very soon!

Km count: 500
Checkpoint stops: 10+
New friends: Mr Pumpkin (carved pumpkin from yesterday’s market complete with flashing headtorch and worn by Rich, our driver)
Number of shower companions: 1 cockroach

On Day 6, after leaving the brilliant, isolated campsite in the desert we got back in the truck and hit the road to Laayoune. Laayoune was our first stop in Western Sahara and we first stopped for a very brief internet visit before getting back in the truck in an attempt to make 500kms in a single day. Unfortunately, a string of police checkpoints (as well as the late start caused by the yummy breakfast with eggs and fresh OJ) meant that we had to stop only a third of the way to Dhakla at a place called Boujdour.

On arriving at the campsite, two girls took it upon themselves to ‘introduce themselves’ to the young Irish men journeying down to Cape Town. I unfortunately spent much of the evening in the toilets (too much info!), but the rest of the gang had some fun finally carving the pumpkin and eating the product in a delicious curry.

On days like this, there is not much of interest to report. Much of the time has been spent driving through deserted expanses of the Sahara, with small villages dotted here and there and the odd check point to hold us up. For this reason, we have taken it upon ourselves to try and get as much kms under our belt as possible in order to save time to see parts of Mauritania and Mali in more detail.

The next day, day 7 of the trip, we continued on to Dhakla and managed to get there in time to have lunch. Dhakla is a town which sometimes gets day-trippers from the Canary Islands, but which otherwise, i suspect, gets few tourists. Unfortunately, the lack of campsites available meant that we had to return to a place where previous groups have had things stolen and disliked the manager and, in keeping with tradition, we managed to get ripped off by the same guy this time.

Sorry for the somewhat bleak post – we really have just been driving this last few days in order to gain time for further in the trip. On the plus side, Tom will be joining us on Thursday in Mauritania! He has somehow managed to get his passport and Ghanaian visa sorted out in double-quick fashion and will arrive to rejoin the group just a week after he left. Well done him! It will be good to have him back!

Annouss has been keeping track of Hillary Clinton’s visit in Morocco. During a press conference, she stated clearly that US policy has not changed on the Western Sahara. There had been some speculation, with US rhetoric having changed a bit, but this answer was straightforward enough:

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, change of subject, if I may.  During the past few years, the United States, just like other members of the Security Council, have characterized the Moroccan initiative for autonomy in the Sahara as being serious and credible.  My question is:  Does the Obama Administration stand by that position?  Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.  Our policy has not changed, and I thank you for asking the question because I think it’s important for me to reaffirm here in the Morocco that there has been no change in policy.

The Hillary Clinton might want to reconsider her anachronistic-sounding use of definite articles, though.

Recently returned from the Western Saharan refugee camps in Algeria, where I was working with Donal Scannel on a documentary he’s making of the Sahrawi exile singer, Aziza Brahim. Here’s a glimpse of Aziza during some downtime on tour in Spain this summer.

Km count: 580
Team leaders lost: 1
Further unexpected nights of being spoilt by luxury: 2
Number of lamb testicles bought: 1

On waking in the smelly surroundings of the Agadir campsite (and with poor Victoria spending a night in a tent on which a cat had relieved itself!) a few of us went to pick up some more tinned food to last us a few days in the desert while the others packed away the campsite. Tins, tins and more tins, Agadir being the world’s largest supplier of tinned sardines. We’ll leave you to imagine the smell.

The journey down to Sidi Ifni was not too long – about 130kms – and en-route we got the sad news that our leader Tom has had to fly home to get another passport. Unfortunately the Moroccan authorities could only issue a temporary passport to send him home and so is hoping to meet up with the rest of us later in the trip. Luckily, in the meantime, we have our experienced driving team, Mark and Rich to take care of us. On the downside, Tom has taken with him all of the team’s water sanitation tablets as well as a vital map! He was kind enough to leave us a bag of clothes and some smelly trainers though! Let’s hope he makes it out to join us as soon as possible!

We stopped off at a beautiful beach at a place called Sidi Ifni (see picture), a sleepy town with white, shuttered up houses which wouldn’t look out of place in southern Spain or Greece. The one thing that maybe makes it different is that the place was utterly deserted, with a few workmen bathing after a hard day’s work, a couple of children running around and us! The boys scampered up a rock and then ran into the sea to do some body surfing while the girls sat in the sun wondering what tonight’s facilities would be like. We then made our way to a campsite by the beach, complete with Wifi connection, a laundry service and hot showers, and pitched the tents right next to the sea and settled into a delicious veggie chilli. As Kristy announced to us after visiting the toilets “Guys, we have died and gone to camping heaven!”

The whole of day 5 was spent on the road, covering 450km to reach a campsite near the border with Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a disputed territory claimed by Morocco but which is recognised as an independent state by around 80 countries. Its official status is still ‘disputed’ with the UN despite the fact that the controversy has been ongoing for over 30 years. A large proportion of the West Saharan people (or Sahrawis as they are known) are living in refugee countries in neighbouring Algeria – a country from which many goods are imported. Morocco’s treatment of the people and the country has been widely condemned and the standard and cost of living for the Sahrawis makes life very difficult.

On our way down, we stopped at a market where there were all kinds of fruit and vegetables for sale as well as chickens and camels (we found out that 1 woman was worth about 5000 Dirhams). We finally had the chance to indulge in the fruit that we have been craving for these first days, Rich enquired about buying a camel, and we also bought a pumpkin for our token American on the trip, Kristy, who was missing her slutty Halloween celebrations back home.

After a good 12 hours on the road running parallel to the Atlantic coast, Mark took a right hand turn into what looked like an empty abyss of desert. Most of us in the back had fallen asleep shortly after our Halloween celebrations (which included opening some beers, hiding beers from checkpoint police, singing national anthems and imitating different accents) but we woke to find ourselves off-roading and expecting that Mark had given up hope of us finding the campsite and opted for some rough camping in the desert. However, as we progressed we saw the odd sign with a tent and arrows indicating that maybe Mark did have an alternate plan in mind, and after 20 minutes or so we pulled up at an amazing little place complete with Bedouin-style tents, mattresses and warm showers. The campsite is owned by a French couple who have been living in the middle of nowhere for the last few years. We asked no questions, but the exact reasons why they are here doing what they do remain a mystery, The words ‘tax’ and ‘evasion’ may have been uttered over dinner, but we couldn’t possibly say by whom!


Unfortunately the promised camels steaks were not available because we were arriving too late, so Rich and Victoria treated us to a delicious lamb stew (sans testicle) and the Oxo Young Cook of the Year 1991, Rich managed to get by with a beef-flavoured Knorr cue rather than his ingredient of choice.

Those up early enough the following morning were able to admire the beautiful sunrise over the cactus studded, hard rock desert. After packing up the truck breakfast was served, what a treat after days of porridge: fried eggs, fresh bread, freshly squeezed orange juice, tea and coffee, and, of course, our favourite – cheese triangles. After leaving the goats our left over 2-day-old pasta we head off to Laayoune and through our first border crossing into Western Sahara.

With some music, it’s the particular sound a musician coaxes out of his instrument that gets under your skin. Here’s one of the dirtiest, snakiest electric guitar sounds around.

Group Doueh (featuring Bamaar Salmou AKA Doueh on electric guitar), live, Western Sahara

en a much tastier “big apple”

watch, new york! there’s many tings you can learn….

no homo!

St. Petersburg, Fla. — The Canadian Press Published on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009 12:08PM EDT

Toronto will host the World Pride event in 2014 after winning a vote among gay delegates at the international InterPride Conference in Florida.

Well now that we leave Africa soon (Boo Hoo!) Muni & Molly’s African Oscars are now published.

The categories are : (drum roll please)

1. Best Accommadation / Hotel : Green Turtle Lodge, Dixcove, Ghana
2. Worst Accommadation / Hotel : Pensão Leeta, Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique

3. Best Meal : La Colombe, Constainia, Cape Town, South Africa
4. Worst Meal : Cafe No Name, Arsi Negele, Ethiopia

5. Best Transport : CTM, Morocco
6. Worst Transport : Burundi

7. Friendliest People : Tied at Burkina Faso and Malawi
8. Unfriendliest People : White Namibians

9. Best Value : Ghana
10. Worst Value : Rwanda

And last but by no means least…

11. Best Beer : Primus 720ml, Burundi
12. Worst Beer : Laurentina Stout, Mozambique

And the most coveted award for biggest tosser in Africa goes to….

The fat, Afrikaner, make-up put on with a cement mixer, hair-do like a bulldog’s arse, manager of the Cat Nap Guest House in Springbok for her inability to take a booking 3 whole weeks in advance. Moan about the check in time, lie about her presence prior to us checking in and then only say that we had booked one night when two were requested. I hope you catch the clap from a toilet seat and you choke on some worm infested biltong again. Congratulations, your golden Oscar is in the post.

We’ve also added some additional categories for those that were worthy of such an acolade.

They are:

Toughest Day : 8th April 2009, Butare, Rwanda after visiting a genocide memorial. (I talk about it HERE)

Most adventerous moment: Boarding a tug boat to travel down Lake Tanganyika en-route to Kigoma, Tanzania

The 5 best highlights (in no particular order):

1. Getting up close and personal with 5 Silverbacks in Parc National de Volcans, Rwanda
2. Being pamered in Madikwe Safari Lodge, South Africa
3. Juming out of a dhow, after spotting Dolphins, onto the best beach in Africa. Praia de Chocas, Mozambique
4. Standing on the precipace of the plateau in Dogon Country, Mali
5. Giggling at the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean’s at the southern most tip of Africa

Muni & Molly

So,

Hany Abdel-Aziz of Egypt, who has 25 years of experience with the world body, will become the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Western Sahara and the head of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (known as MINURSO).

Mr. Ban said he has informed the Security Council of his plan to appoint Mr. Abdel-Aziz, who will succeed Julian Harston, now serving as Director of the UN Office in Belgrade, Serbia.

You’re not helping, Mr. Ban. Now we have three Mr. Abdelazizes to keep track of in Western Sahara affairs, the other two being:

• Mohammed Abdelaziz, leader of the POLISARIO.
• Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz, president of Mauritania.

And then there’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Abdelaziz Belkhadem (occasionally), and so on. Small wonder people find the conflict confusing.

Senegal reaffirmed, Monday in New York, its firm support for Morocco’s autonomy initiative for the Sahara.

Over at the Export Law Blog, Clif Burns pens on a speech by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on export control reforms.   While it made a whole lot of sense in the mid 1990s to reform the old export control system – Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls – I still think the current system is pretty darn good.  And while it needs some updating to keep up with new technologies, increase transparency, and make it more efficient to keep the engines of commerce moving, massive structural reform seems like overkill, likely to lead to more regulations and uncertainty.  Like prior administrations, the export reform talisman is making itself felt.  Like Clif Burns suggests, let’s start with the “plastic handcuffs” and the “horses by sea.”

Meanwhile over at the Divest Terror Initiative, Christopher Holton discusses how “America has never had a “tough” policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.”  The same would hold on another state sponsor of terrorism, Cuba.  Also at the DTI blog, Sarah Steelman outlines how taxpayer stimulus monies have been given to foreign companies that engage in commercial relations with state sponsors of terrorism. She singles out Siemens:  ”Siemens AG has long been listed on DivestTerror.org as one the “Dirty Dozen” international companies who do business with terrorist-sponsoring governments. Divest Terror points out that Siemens has extensive contracts with the government of Iran involving advanced technology and equipment, which may be easily diverted to terrorist activities jeopardizing American lives.”

At another divestment website, the Western Sahara Resource Watch pens how a “small Irish oil company San Leon Energy has been seeking capital to carry out oil exploration in occupied Western Sahara in collaboration with Moroccan authorities. Now they have obtained Norwegian assistance.” According to WSRW, almost all the blocks that San Leon has obtained from Moroccan authorities lie in occupied Western Sahara. This becomes apparent from maps that the Moroccan state oil company ONHYM has published. I will not attend the United Nations session this year on the Western Sahara, but I am advised that the divestment folks will be there in full force.

Over at the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, a few export control violations worth noting including the unauthorized export of optical shooting devices to Zambia,  shotguns to Chile and Canada,  missile technology to Malaysia and Indonesia, and explosive detection systems to South Korea.

The DDTC published guidance on the practice of authorizing “the employment of a foreign person by a U.S. person on a DSP-5 through an exception to the requirement for a technical assistance agreement (TAA) in accordance with 22 CFR 124.1(a).”  Can you say all that in one breath?  Anyhow, “after close review, DDTC has determined this “double” licensing to be redundant. Therefore, all requests for the licensing of a foreign person employed by a U.S. person must be made through the use of a DSP-5 to cover all levels of requested technical data and defense services.”  Is it clear now?

Finally, over at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, new civil penalties were published, both involving Iran.  The one that caught my attention was Gold & Silver Reserve (GSR), a Delaware corporation.  According to the company website, GSR issues “e-gold”  - an electronic currency – 100% backed at all times by gold bullion in allocated storage.  They tout that it is the “world’s first truly global payment option.”  I guess the Iran sanctions were an oversight?  GSR was assessed $2.9 million for violating the transaction regulations by activating 56,739 “e currency” accounts through its websites for people in Iran.