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Rabat – Polisario’s destabilizing activities in the region continue as it is planning to celebrate the “45th anniversary of its armed struggle” on Sunday in Tifariti, east of Morocco’s defense wall. The move comes in defiance of the recently adopted Resolution 2414 of the United Nations Security Council.
The event planned by the Polisario Front was reported by Algerian news agency Algeria Press Service (APS) on Friday.
Algerian press is no longer hesitating to show their support for the separatist group. APS wrote that the Algerian-backed separatist group will celebrate, “in the Sahrawi liberated territories the 45th anniversary of the outbreak of the Sahrawi armed struggle against the Moroccan occupation forces.”
The separatist group claims the entire territory east of Morocco’s berm, which also includes Bir Lahlou, as a “liberated zone.”
For decades, the front has been announcing its plans to relocate some of its facilities to the zones of Tifariti and Bir Lahlou.
However, the United Nations has made its stance against Polisario’s illegal actions clear in its Resolution 2414, adopted on April 28. In Paragraph 8 of the resolution, the Security Council expressed its serious concerns regarding Polisario’s intention to “relocate its administrative functions to Bir Lahlou.” Subsequently, it called on the Polisario to “refrain from any such destabilizing actions.”
The Security Council also called on the front to withdraw immediately from the Guerguerat region. The Polisario, however, is planning to defy the Security Council, with the risk of further escalating tension in the region. It is not the first time the separatist group has violated the 1991 ceasefire agreement. The Polisario Front has repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement.
On April 20 the United Nations spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, publicly announced that the Polisario intercepted members of MIUNRSO in the region.
He said that the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has “informed the UN Security Council on April 16, in the Tifariti Area, MINURSO observers were intercepted by Polisario elements, who then proceeded to fire warning [shots].” He added that the UN observers were deterred from doing their job by the members of the front.
Since December, the Polisario Front has been staging illegal maneuvers east of Morocco’s defense wall. Since then, Morocco has been urging the United Nations to strongly intervene to end Polisario’s illegal operations.
Morocco has always stressed Algeria’ central role in the Western Sahara dispute, and urged the United Nations to put pressure on its eastern neighbor to contribute to the UN-led political process to end the 40-decade-long conflict over the region.
The latest Moroccan attempt to push for Algerian involvement in the conflict came in a letter that King Mohammed VI addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 4.
“It is Algeria that hosts, arms, backs up, and brings diplomatic support for the Polisario,” said the King in his letter that Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita passed along to Guterres during their meeting at the UN headquarters in New York.
The King added that “Algeria bears a full” responsibility in the conflict.
