Rabat - Following a series of illegal armed operations carried out by the Polisario Front near Guerguerat, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Morocco and Polisario to exercise “maximum” restraint to avoid further escalation in the region.
Rabat – Following a series of illegal armed operations carried out by the Polisario Front near Guerguerat, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Morocco and Polisario to exercise “maximum” restraint to avoid further escalation in the region.
In a statement issued on Saturday, January 6, the UN Chief expressed his deep concern over rising tensions near the restricted buffer strip. The statement came just a day after Morocco addressed a letter to the UN, urging it to intervene on Polisario’s illegal activities in the region.
Read Also: Morocco Urges UN to Intervene on Polisario’s Illegal Presence in Guerguerat
Guterres emphasized that the withdrawal of “the Polisario Front elements from Guerguerat in April 2017 together with the earlier withdrawal of Moroccan elements from the area, was critical to creating an environment conducive to the resumption of dialogue under the auspices of his Personal Envoy, Horst Kohler.”
The UN Secretary-General, according to the statement, is calling on the disputant parties to “exercise maximum restraint and to avoid escalating tensions.”
Read Also: Polisario Maintains Presence in Guerguerat, Defying MINURSO’s Resolution
While the separatist group has been recently stopping trucks registered in Morocco and blocking them from crossing the Moroccan-Mauritanian border, the UN said that “regular civilian and commercial traffic should not be obstructed and no action should be taken, which may constitute a change to the status quo of the buffer strip.”
Polisario had been violating the ceasefire agreement signed between Morocco and Polisario in 1991. The separatist provocative actions were continuously repeated since December 2017. Morocco has also contacted the MINURSO to denounce the presence of the armed elements of the separatist group, asking the mission to urge Polisario to withdraw from the region.
