Western Sahara government protests TOTAL activities in the Territory

Western Sahara - Independent Maghreb Press Agency - The government of Western Sahara Republic has asked the French company TOTAL to refrain from any exploitation of natural resources in the occupied Western Sahara without the approval of Saharawi government, in a letter sent Wednesday by the Saharawi Coordinator with the MINURSO Mr. Mhamed Khadad to Total’s Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie. “The illegal occupation of Western Sahara is legitimized by individuals and corporations who deal with Morocco for the natural resources of the territory,” stated the letter. “By the illegal exploration of the natural resources of Western Sahara, the conflict is prolonged, and the Saharawi people denied their economic future,” wrote Mr. Mhamed Khadad. “We remain confident that TOTAL will prove it was not and would not remain involved, in any way, in the exploitation of petroleum resources in the Western Sahara coasts,” he added. The letter coincides with the end of TOTAL’s licence with the Moroccan state oil company ONHYM, which was revealed last week.

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UK invites Libyan rebels to open office in London

London (AMIPS) - The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, invited Thursday Libya's dissident Transitional National Council to open an office in London during talks with rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil. "The government is today inviting the council to establish a formal office here in London," Cameron said after the talks in Downing Street, his first face-to-face discussions with Mr. Jalil. The Chief of the Rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, urged allies to send the rebels more weapons so they could drive the Libyan leader from power. NATO airstrikes on Kadhafi's compound on Thursday killed three people, hours after Libyan state television showed the first footage of Kadhafi since another attack on April 30 that the regime said had targeted him .

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