London — Chair of the Western Sahara Resource Watch Mr. Erik Hagen underlined that "no energy project should of course be placed in a territory occupied by force."

"Connecting the territory to the European energy grid in partnership with Moroccan government, would further contribute to uphold the status quo of the conflict," stated Erik Hagen, chair of WSRW.

Hagen's statement came a day the freezing of the controversial project "Desert Bio", through which Morocco aims to exploit solar energy from the occupied territories of Western Sahara as part of a partnership with Europe.

He added that this project could not be completed due to lack of funds, pointing out that the two companies responsible for funding of the project Siemens and Bosch have had to withdraw from the project.

"If this project ends up being stopped, it is good news for the people of Western Sahara," said Hagen.

Siemens is the same company that has also received criticism for planning to do a wind energy project in the occupied territory in partnership with a company of the King of Morocco.

That project was prevented from receiving UN funding due to its location in the occupeid territory.