The vice-prime minister of East Timor, Jose Luis Guterres, addresses a crowd of Saharawi refugees and international officials on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, in the Laayoune refugee camp near Western Sahara's border with Algeria. Guterres called for Western Sahara to benefit from a U.N.-sponsored referendum as his nascent country did, gaining independence in 2002. He spoke at a ceremony commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the Western Sahara republic, which remains in exile because Morocco controls two-thirds of the desert territory.
Saharawi President-in-exile Mohammed Abdelaziz, center, sits between regional governor Mahrez Lamari of the Algerian Tindouf region, right, and the vice-prime minister of East Timor, Jose Luis Guterres, left, Saturday, 28 Feb. 2009, during a ceremony in the Laayoune refugee camp, near Western Sahara's border with Algeria. Delegates from East Timor, France and Algeria joined the Saharawi government-in-exile on Saturday in its call for Western Sahara's independence. The ceremony, including nomads on camel back and marches by Saharawi boy scouts and female soldiers, ended a week of festivities for the 33rd anniversary of the proclamation of the "Saharawi Republic."
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