Rabat – A special envoy of U.N. Secretary General was officially received Monday in the Shaheed El Hafed camps of the Polisario Front.
Kim Bolduc, who also serves as the Head of MINURSO, met with the separatist movement leaders in reference to the tensions in the Guerguerat region of southern Morocco.
MINURSO is the peacekeeping mission which monitors any and all violations of the 1991 ceasefire agreement between the Polisario Front and the Moroccan Royal Army.
Moroccan security and police forces conducted “clean-up operations’ on August 14 in the Guerguerat region with the stated purpose of stopping smuggling and drug trafficking.
The Polisario Front wrote two letters to the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accusing Morocco of violating the 1991 ceasefire agreement.
After an investigation, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq reported that the U. N. Mission in the Sahara had not detected any military presence on the part of Morocco.
Last week, the Polisario Front sent about 32 armed militants to the region to stop the construction of the road that will connect Morocco to its neighbor, Mauritania. This movement of Polisario troops prompted a call for concern from the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the African Union.
On Tuesday, Dr. Nkosazana Diamini-Zuma, chairman of the Commission of the African Union, also urged both parties to uphold the Military Agreement Number 1 and to end any and all violations of the 1991 ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, Morocco has vowed to continue building the road in cooperation with MINURSO. Moroccan officials say it will allow for the more effective interdiction of illicit drug trafficking and black market smuggling.
Moroccan Interior Minister, Mohamed Hassad said the “clean-up operation” is being conducted “in strict compliance with the ceasefire, particularly the military agreement No. 1,” at last week’s Cabinet meeting held in Rabat.
