African immigrants found abandoned Sunday 16 October 2005, 23:46 Makka Time, 20:46 GMT Morocco has recently expelled at least 2000 African immigrants Related: Morocco sends back more migrants Morocco repatriates 140 Senegalese Tools: Email Article Print Article Send Your Feedback The separatist Polisario Front in the Western Sahara has said it came across 92 African immigrants expelled from Morocco. The 92 Africans, of nine nationalities, were found in small groups in a region of the Western Sahara controlled by Polisario, not far from a Moroccan military defence wall that divides the annexed territory in two, said Mohamed Kheddad, Polisario coordinator for a UN force known as MINURSO. Of the Africans, 48 are Gambian and 18 Cameroonian, Kheddad said on Sunday, speaking in the town of Bir Lahlou in the Western Sahara, situated 220km southwest of the Algerian town of Tindouf. Several of the immigrants told AFP that dozens of others were still in the territory's desert. The Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Western Sahara, is continuing to search for more immigrants, Kheddad said. Abandoned Africans The movement said on Friday it had located hundreds of Africans abandoned in the Western Sahara desert by Moroccan security forces driving them out of the country. "Algeria is gathering together candidates for clandestine immigration in the region of Tindouf in order to make it a propaganda tool in the Sahara conflict" Driss Jettou, Moroccan Prime Minister Morocco has recently expelled at least 2000 African immigrants, sparking concern from international human rights groups and aid organisations about the conditions and speed of the operation. Difficulties are compounded as Morocco has strained relations with Algiers since the latter has backed the Polisario Front during more than a decade of political stalemate following a truce in 1992, and hosts Polisario's Saharawi government in exile. Propaganda Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou said on Sunday that Algeria was using the situation as a "propaganda tool." "Algeria is gathering together candidates for clandestine immigration in the region of Tindouf in order to make it a propaganda tool in the Sahara conflict," Jettou said at a news conference in Rabat. Jettou said Morocco was fulfilling its obligations dealing with illegals The Moroccan prime minister said the kingdom was fulfilling its obligations to deal with illegal immigrants on its territory. Jettou said: "It is out of the question that Morocco will let the enemies of its territorial integrity take advantage of the misery and disarray of human beings seeking to enter Europe in the hope of a better life there." "It is out of the question also that Morocco would tolerate the kind of actions that harm its highest interests, especially its territorial integrity," he added. In the week since it started repatriating illegal immigrants, Morocco has airlifted at least 2000 West Africans to their countries of origin, according to a count by AFP based on official figures. Aljazeera + Agencies _________________________________________________________________ MSN Messenger 7.5 is now out. Download it for FREE here. http://messenger.msn.co.uk いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい