Sahara Press Service

Sahara Press Service (SPS; Arabic: وكالة الأنباء الصحراوية, romanized: Wikālat al-’Anbā’ aṣ-Ṣaḥrāwīyah) is the multi-lingual official press agency of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The agency mainly report government-related news and current Sahrawi affairs, both from the liberated and occupied territories of Western Sahara, and the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.

Sahara Press Service
Native name
وكالة الأنباء الصحراوية
TypeNot-for-profit news agency
IndustryNews media
Founded29 March 1999 (1999-03-29)
HeadquartersShaheed El Hafed Sahrawi refugee camps,
Tindouf
,
Algeria
Key people
Editor-in-Chief Saleh Nafee
Sahara Press Service
Available in
CommercialNo
Current statusAvailable
Websitenew.spsrasd.info (new website)
www.spsrasd.info (old website)

History

Sahara Press Service was established on 29 March 1999 with a support from Algeria Press Service in collaboration with the Swiss Association for a Free and Fair Referendum in Western Sahara, known as ARSO, in the midst of interactions resulting from the cease-fire of the Western Sahara War on September 6, 1991.[1] The SPS dispatches began to be posted on the internet since April 1999, due to the combined efforts of the Friends of Sahrawi People in Switzerland and Spain.[2] Among the founders 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.[3] The Sahara Press Service also releases the El Karama monthly magazine, which reports on human rights violations in the region.[4][5]

Reports were published only in French until 2001, when the SPS website was opened. In March 2001, news started to be published in Spanish. On April 20, 2003, the news were also published in English on the website. In 2005, SPS added Arabic to the language options of their site.[6] In September 2010, SPS started releasing a weekly news resume bulletin in PDF format. On 1 July 2012 news started to be published in Russian as well.[7]

On 25 January 2012, Sahrawi president Mohamed Abdelaziz inaugurated the new headquarters of the press agency on the Sahrawi refugee camps.[8] SPS launched a new website and logo on 11 October 2023.[9]

See also

References
  1. "15th Anniversary of Sahara Press Service (SPS): "Reinforcing message of credibility, responsibility, professionalism" to confront fallacies of occupation". www.spsrasd.info. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020.
  2. "About us". Sahara Press Service. 26 February 2016. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016.
  3. "President of Republic appoints new director for Sahara Press Service". www.spsrasd.info. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020.
  4. "SPS celebrates its 10th anniversary". Sahara Press Service. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  5. Besenyő János Western Sahara, p. 170, at Google Books
  6. "Imminent launch of new look of SPS website". SPS. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  7. Президент САДР приглашен посетить Танзанию. SPS (in Russian). 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  8. "President of Republic supervises inauguration of SPS new headquarters". www.spsrasd.info. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020.
  9. "President of Republic supervises launch of new website of Sahrawi News Agency (SPS)". Sahara Press Service. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
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