New York - Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, addressed on Sunday a letter to the Security Council to warn its members about the maneuvers of the Polisario in Guerguerat area.
New York – Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, addressed on Sunday a letter to the Security Council to warn its members about the maneuvers of the Polisario in Guerguerat area.
The letter comes on the heels of reports that the Algeria-backed Polisario has decided to move the headquarters of its so-called “Ministry of Defense” to part of the buffer zone, which its consideres as “liberated areas.”
The Moroccan ambassador said that a relocation of any Polisario facility, be it civil, military, administrative, or of any kind or nature whatsoever, from the Tindouf camps in Algeria, to the buffer zone “constitutes a casus belli.”
Hilale pointed out that Polisario’s maneuvers in the region constitute a “violations of Military Agreement 1” and “seriously threatens” the UN political process, which aims to help the parties to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution to the territorial dispute.
“With their repeated violations, which are now extended to several zones in the East of the security structure in the Moroccan Sahara, the other parties seriously condemn any chance of relaunching the political process,” stressed Hilale in the letter.
“The inaction of the International Community and its passivity towards these violations have, unfortunately, been interpreted by the other parties, as an encouragement to persist in their defiance,” the ambassador regretted.
Hilale called on the Security Council to put pressure on the Polisario and compel it to abide by the provisions of the ceasefire and the military agreement.
“The Security Council is called upon to use its authority to enforce compliance with the ceasefire and Military Agreements and to order “polisario” to withdraw immediately, unconditionally and completely from the area East of the security structure in the Moroccan Sahara,” he said.
The Moroccan diplomat emphasized, that in case the United Nations fails to shoulder its responsibility, Morocco will use all necessary means to defend its rights and prevent the Polisario from changing the status of the region.
“Morocco, will not stand idly by the deterioration of the situation on the ground. The other parties will, then, have to take full responsibility for the consequences that will result from their actions,” he said.
Hilale went on to add that, despite the repeated calls of the UN Secretary General to avoid any actions that might escalate tension, the Polisario has not only increased its maneuvers in the Guerguerat region, but has also set up tens in the Mahbes, another area in the buffer zone and is preparing to relocate its military facilities to the localities of Bir Lahlou and Tifariti.
The Polisario has, “once again, repeated, three days ago, its violations of the Military Agreement N.1, in another area of the Moroccan Sahara, in this case in Mahbes,” he said, adding that several armed elements of the Polisario have entered this area, aboard military vehicles, and have set up tents, dug a ditch and built constructions using sandbags.
