Escalation Between Polisario Front and Morocco May Lead to War

A dangerous escalation in the Western Sahara is now threatening the outbreak of a war again between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco, after nearly a quarter-century of the signing of the ceasefire agreement and commitment to hold a referendum of self-determination under the auspices of the United Nations.

Moroccan media reported that a number of military trucks are heading towards the south, and daily Moroccan website “Hespress” quoted a military and strategic affairs’ expert, Salim Belmazian, as saying that it was about a “convoy which is composed of American trucks, and the majority of them are of the type M923 type, which are heavy, and were seen on the highway between Rabat and Marrakech in southern Morocco.”

Inter Press Service said that the Polisario forces deployed missiles and military equipment close to the wall that separates the east of the Western Sahara from the rest of Central and Western regions, while the Polisario Front announced a state of alert in its armed ranks, something that did not happen since the nineties of the last century.

Adding to fears of a new war on the south-western border of the country, the continuing escalation between Morocco and the Polisario, since the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to the Maghreb region recently, during which he made an exclusive statement for an official to his level in the UN body, when he described the Moroccan presence in Western Sahara, as an “occupation.”

Since then, the Maghreb region  noticed an escalation that threatens of dangerous developments on the regional security, as Morocco called for the expulsion of 84 employees in the “MINURSO”, before closing the Military Liaison Office which belongs the United Nations, in the capital of Western Sahara, Al Oyoun, and in the context of Moroccan escalation against the UN, which is an exclusivity in dealing with a high level body like the United Nations body. 

All these developments were followed by the Security Council meeting at the invitation of Ban Ki-moon, to examine the decisions that are taken by Morocco and move firmly, “not only to keep the United Nations’ mission in Western Sahara, but also to avoid similar acts toward other peacekeeping tasks in the world”, but the response of the Council was not at the level of the Moroccan challenge.

Danger of Moroccan decisions, especially those relating to the MINURSO mission, which is in charge of peacekeeping in Western Sahara, in being considered as a retreat from an agreement that was concluded under the auspices of the United Nations in 1991, which would feed frustration among Sahrawis and strengthens their sense of indifference of the UN Security Council, and a breach of the international community ethical obligations, and they will find no choice but to resort to arms to recover their trampled rights.

Previously, Morocco backed down the first part of MINURSO mission, which is related to the preparations for the organization of a referendum to decide about the fate of Western Sahara people, in 2007, when King Mohammed VI, proposed his self-rule project in the Sahara, which means that Morocco, and through the recent decisions, did not respect the 1991 agreement, which is an adequate justification for the Sahrawis to liberate from the agreement, which is mere ink on paper.