Source: Polisario Turns to Provocation Due to Diplomatic Failures

Rabat – Polisario turned to provocation and escalation in Guerguerat, a town in the buffer zone near the Moroccan-Mauritanian border, due to its diplomatic failures in Western Sahara, a source has said.

Morocco’s state media quoted a source close to the dossier as saying that Polisario “played the card of provocation and escalation in a manifest challenge to the international community.”

Polisario has been in distress since the UN Security Council’s adoption in October of Resolution 2548 to extend the mandate of MINURSO, the peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara, for one year.

The resolution also reinforced the calls for Polisario to refrain from violations in restricted areas that the UN secretary-general made in his annual report on the situation in Western Sahara.

Since September, Polisario has launched a series of violations of the ceasefire agreement and UN resolutions in Guerguerat, in defiance of the recommendations and warnings from the international body.

In addition to blocking civilian and commercial traffic, some supporters of the Polisario Front protested in Guerguerat and taunted Morocco’s military personnel to ignite escalation in the region.

The source said that the Security Council and the UN must now face the “extremely serious acts of the ‘Polisario’ with the support of Algeria, which seek to destabilize the whole region and to torpedo all the efforts of the United Nations.”

The source also emphasized Polisario’s isolation after a group of countries decided to open diplomatic representations in Dakhla and Laayoune, two cities in southern Morocco.

The latest country to open a consulate general in the region was the UAE, which opened its diplomatic representation in Laayoune a few days before Morocco marked the 45th anniversary of the Green March. With the opening, Laayoune and Dakhla now host 16 diplomatic representations combined.

The source also underlined Morocco’s determination to continue to support the UN-led political process to find an agreed-upon and mutually acceptable solution in Western Sahara.

With its provocations, Polisario has made clear that it is ready to violate the ceasefire agreement with Morocco despite all the circumstances.

Recently, the Polisario Front attempted to cover up its violations, claiming that the presence of Moroccan military personnel in the region or a Moroccan military mobilization will push the separatist group to end the ceasefire.

The Polisario Front also threatened war in defiance of all UN peacekeeping efforts on the ground.

The source said that “such moves are acts of open mistrust against the UN Secretary-General, who has called on three occasions for the preservation of the freedom of civil and commercial movement in the buffer zone.”

He said that the “Polisario” does not hide its desire to “torpedo international legality” through its calls for war and its open disdain for the UN secretary-general and MINURSO.

The source, however, stressed that Morocco will be steadfast and not accept a change in “the status of the area east and south of the defense system, which is an integral part of Moroccan territory.”

The statement echoes King Mohammed VI’s firm remarks on the violations in Guerguerat. In his Green March anniversary speech on November 7, the King said Morocco will not be impacted by the “useless” violations from Polisario, expressing his country’s determination to defend its territory.

“Morocco will not only continue to abide by and uphold logic and wisdom, but it will also respond, with the utmost firmness and resolve, to any practices or attempts designed to undermine the security and stability of its southern provinces,” King Mohammed VI said.