Sahara Press Service (SPS) is the multi-lingual official press agency of the
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...
, the
government in exile
A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile us ...
of the
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...
. The agency mainly report government-related news and current Sahrawi affairs, both from the
liberated territories
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
, the
occupied territories
Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
and the
Sahrawi refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...
s in
Tindouf
Tindouf ( Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...
,
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
.
History
The Polisario Front recognised the importance of press at an early stage. They took journalists to occupied territories and established the Sahara Press Service at the Sahrawi refugee camps on 29 March 1999 (A
POLISARIO agency press had been founded previously in 1980). The Sahara Press Service Dispatches began to be posted on the internet since April 1999, due to the combined efforts of the Friends of Sahrawi People in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Among the founders of SPS was the journalist and then SADR Minister of Information
Mohamed Fadel Ismail Ould Es-Sweyih. Its current director and editor in chief is Saleh Nafee. The Sahara Press Service also releases the El Karama monthly magazine which reports on human rights violations in the region.
Reports were published only in
French until 2001, when the SPS website was opened. In March 2001, news started to be published also in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. On April 20, 2003, the news were also published in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
on the website. In 2005, SPS added
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
to the language options of their site. In September 2010, SPS started releasing a weekly news resume bulletin in
PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
format. On 1 July 2012 news started to be published in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
as well.
On 25 January 2012, president of the
SADR
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a ...
Mohamed Abdelaziz Mohamed Abdelaziz can refer to a number of people:
* Mohamed Abdelaziz (Sahrawi politician) (1946–2016), President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016)
*Mohamed Abdelaziz (Libyan politician)
Mohamed Abdelaziz is a Libyan polit ...
inaugurated the new headquarters of the press agency on the
Sahrawi refugee camps
The Sahrawi refugee camps (also romanized with Saharawi) in Tindouf, Algeria, are a collection of refugee camps set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975–76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Wester ...
.
See also
*
RASD TV
RASD TV is the Sahrawi state-owned satellite and terrestrial public-service television broadcaster. Its offices are located in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf Province, Algeria.
History
The channel was established in February 2004, bu ...
External links
SPS homepage
References
{{Reflist
News agencies based in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Organizations established in 1999
Multilingual news services
Arab news agencies
Arab mass media