Arab support for Morocco’s response to the Guerguerat crisis, as well as its sovereignty over Western Sahara, is important for Rabat.
Rabat – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Arab Parliament conveyed support on Saturday for Morocco’s intervention to end Polisario’s blockade of the Guerguerat border crossing.
Since October 21, elements of the militant Polisario Front have blocked civil and commercial traffic through Guerguerat, a vital crossing point of the Moroccan-Mauritanian border that lies within the UN-monitored buffer zone.
The separatists refused to leave the area despite repeated warnings from the UN.
Morocco, having given the UN ample time to persuade Polisario to leave Guerguerat, decided on Friday to establish a security cordon at the crossing point to resume the cross-border flow of goods and people.
Polisario elements opened fire on Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) during the non-offensive intervention and declared the following day that the Front would no longer respect the 1991 ceasefire.
Despite the propaganda Algeria and the Polisario Front are relentlessly pushing in an attempt to undermine Morocco’s international standing, Morocco has earned widespread support for its intervention to end the border crisis.
Read also: Polisario, Algeria Push Fake News as Morocco Enjoys Growing Support
Gulf Cooperation Council
GCC Secretary-General Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf expressed on Saturday the council’s support for Morocco’s decision to restore the flow of goods and people in the buffer zone.
In a statement, Al-Hajraf reiterated the steadfast position of GCC states in favor of Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over Western Sahara. The statement stressed that the Gulf countries reject any actions that disturb traffic in the region.
Prior to the GCC official’s statement, the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait individually voiced their support for Morocco’s response to the crisis. Also in the Middle East, Jordan and Yemen took the same position.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Representing 57 countries across the globe, the OIC affirmed its support for the measures Morocco took to secure the Guerguerat crossing.
In a statement on Saturday, the OIC also condemned “any act threatening free movement in this area linking Morocco and Mauritania” and called for “restraint, non-escalation, and respect for the resolutions of international legality.”
Arab Parliament
The speaker of the Arab Parliament — the legislative body of the Arab League — stepped forward on Saturday to express his solidarity with Morocco.
Adel Abdel Rahmane Al-Asoumi stressed his full support for Morocco’s measures to protect its national interests, territorial integrity, and security. He also welcomed King Mohammed VI’s decision to end Polisario’s illegal incursion into the buffer zone.
He condemned all practices threatening the movement of people and goods “in this vital area between Morocco and Mauritania.”
Importance of Arab support for Morocco in Western Sahara
Arab support for Morocco’s response to the Guerguerat crisis, as well as its sovereignty over Western Sahara, is important for Rabat.
Opponents of the country’s territorial integrity, such as South Africa, often attempt to liken Morocco’s stance in Western Sahara to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
South African President and African Union Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa constantly equates the Western Sahara dispute to the Palestinian question in his statements to international and continental bodies.
The false, misleading comparison has not borne fruit, however.
Morocco, itself a strong defender of the Palestinian cause, enjoys the support of many countries, organizations, and institutions that also defend Palestinians’ right to a state.
Saturday’s statements from the GCC, the OIC, and the Arab Parliament, as well as Arab countries’ individual expressions of support, are important in debunking Polisario champions’ unfounded and ahistorical claims of Morocco’s “occupation” and “colonization” of Western Sahara.
Support for Morocco’s cause is growing in the Arab world. Earlier this month, the UAE became the first non-African country to inaugurate a diplomatic representation in Laayoune, a city in Morocco’s southern provinces that Polisario claims is “contested territory.”
