JUST IN: The Polisario Front will maintain the negotiation with Morocco “in all possible contexts” | International
Global Update:
The following report highlights an important international development currently attracting worldwide attention.
The Polisario Front does not consider bilateral contacts with Rabat closed, which have been maintained in recent months despite the death on Monday of one of its leaders by a Moroccan drone. “Not necessarily,” Abdulá Arabi, representative of that movement in Spain, responds to EL PAÍS. “The Polisario Front is used to dialogue in all possible contexts,” he adds. The Polisario accuses Rabat of the attack that killed three Sahrawis and injured several others during one of those clashes. Among the dead is Lahbib Mohamed Abdelaziz, son of the late former president Mohamed Abdelaziz, current Army commander and member of the Polisario National Secretariat. But these types of attacks, increasingly used in different wars, are not new. Without giving an exact figure, Sahrawi officials estimate that there are “dozens” of civilians and soldiers who have fallen in recent years due to attacks by unmanned devices perpetrated by Morocco. “The prominent role of Lahbib Mohamed Abdelaziz in the generational transition within the Sahrawi Liberation Army is indisputable. He was one of the most prominent figures in the current military sphere,” Abdullah Arabi said by telephone. “The attack was caused by a high-precision drone during the withdrawal phase within the framework of a regular war operation,” another of those carried out since the escalation of clashes in the last six years, adds Arabi. “However, the cruelty of these attacks, which only increases as the war progresses, clearly questions Morocco’s real will to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict while respecting the rights of the Saharawi people,” he concludes. “It is the high price that “We have to pay to continue defending our dignity. We do it with pride,” explains Jalil Mohamed Abdelaziz, Lahbib’s brother and Polisario delegate in Madrid, in a phone call. Shortly after, he traveled to the former colony to attend the funeral obsequies, held in what the Sahrawis know as liberated territory, that is, under their authority. Abdulá Arabi takes advantage of the death of the military command to attack the Spanish Government, through a statement, against “the double standards with which it currently governs its foreign policy. Proof of this is that it only questions, investigates and condemns events when they are produced by one of the parties.” “On the other hand, when the victims – to whom I convey my deepest condolences – are Sahrawis, the silence becomes deafening.” Sahrawi activist Aminatu Haidar, who knows Moroccan prisons, highlights a double message after the latest attack. On the one hand, Rabat “openly despises the efforts of the UN to reach a peaceful, just and lasting solution.” On the other hand, it highlights the “firm determination of the Sahrawi people to continue their fight for national liberation, regardless of the price they must pay.” He defines Lahbib as a kind of son whose loss he receives between “sadness” and “pride.” A scar in the desert To the east of El Aaiún, the Sahrawi capital where Haidar resides, a large scar crosses the desert in northwest Africa for hundreds of kilometers, forming an unofficial border within Western Sahara. In a very unusual view from the air, as this reporter had the opportunity, the reality of this geographical anomaly created by man is confirmed. It is the earthen wall fortified with military positions built in the eighties of the last century by Morocco. Sometimes, you can see tanks, other vehicles and soldiers wandering between mud constructions half camouflaged with the terrain. Currently, this huge construction divides the former Spanish colony in two, of just over 250,000 square kilometers (around half the size of Spain). Approximately 20%, which corresponds to the eastern or interior zone, remains in the hands of the Polisario Front. The rest, which borders the Atlantic coast, is the plot occupied by the Maghreb country, where, among other localities, El Aaiún is located. The one in Western Sahara, with clear Moroccan military superiority, appears buried among dozens of other armed conflicts that shake the planet today. Although half dormant, there are occasional skirmishes and confrontations that remind us that it is still a war whose solution is still far away. What explains why this is not a front-line conflict? There are no major troop movements and clashes; Nor does the number of civilian or military fatalities stand out; Beyond the fishing grounds, phosphate and energy possibilities, the exploitation of natural resources is much less attractive and profitable than in other areas; and, furthermore, the territory is located in a part of the world far removed from the geostrategic interest aroused by other wars. At the same time, the Kingdom has managed to gain the support of important allies on the international scene that serve to anchor its position in the face of a decolonization process anchored in oblivion and institutional inaction, with the UN at the helm. Among those that provide direct aid to Rabat, in addition to the United States or France, is the Government of Madrid, a former power in the territory. President Pedro Sánchez, an active defender of the end of the occupation of territories such as Ukraine by Russia or Palestine by Israel, made a turn in 2022 and aligned himself unequivocally with King Mohamed VI. Sánchez sent a letter to the monarch in which he announced a “new bilateral relationship” and, in addition, considered the Moroccan proposal as “the most serious, credible and realistic basis” to resolve the conflict. The Moroccan position, which considers Western Sahara as its own, closes the door to the self-determination process as it appears in international legislation. For the current Sahrawi leader, the 80-year-old veteran Brahim Gali, the “solution must be based on absolute respect for the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and to choose their future with total freedom and democracy, in accordance with UN resolutions and the principles of international legality,” as reported on Monday, after the drone attack, by the official Sahrawi news agency. Gali had just received the envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Western Saha, Staffan de Mistura. The deceased Lahbib Mohamed Abdelaziz is one of the highest officials of the Sahrawi authority who died due to the new war carried out by drones in the middle of the sands. “My father was wounded three times,” recalls Jalil Mohamed, referring to the former president, who died in 2016, and one of the founders of Polisario, when the fighting was almost hand-to-hand. Gone are the skirmishes between both parties in which the protagonists of the Sahrawi troops were historic Land Rover vehicles manufactured in Linares (Jaén). They were mostly inherited from the Spanish Security Forces, which abandoned the territory permanently in February 1976. Conveniently modified to carry a machine gun in the rear, those Defender models crossed the hamada (scree that dominates the landscape) in an attempt to push back the Moroccan army, which extended its tentacles across the desert since the Green March. This popular movement was launched in November 1975 by order of King Hassan II when Spain was hanging on to a dying dictator Francisco Franco. Despite the arrival of other more modern SUVs such as the Land Cruiser, those Spanish cars continue to be highly appreciated by Sahrawis today. In any case, the weapons available to the Sahrawis are very far from those wielded by their enemy. In the Algerian region of Tindouf, almost where this country borders Western Sahara, Morocco and Mauritania, some 175,000 refugees are waiting for a solution to the conflict in camps that began to arise with the exodus starting in 1975. Last April, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Polisario Front, President Gali In a speech delivered in the Auserd camp (Algeria) he moved away from the use of war as the main way to achieve the end of the conflict. The president explained that one of the objectives of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is to strengthen relations with its neighbors, including “the Kingdom of Morocco”, for which “the Sahrawi people will not be a source of threat, but rather a willing partner for peace and cooperation.” However, the residue left by the latest drone attack has raised blisters. “Legitimation is granted in battle and sacrifice,” says Jalil Mohamed, leaving the door open to new confrontations. But the Sahrawis’ extensive knowledge of the terrain is not enough, as has been demonstrated, to confront the Moroccan military machine.
Why This Matters:
Analysts believe this development may influence future diplomatic, political, or economic discussions internationally.
Political and economic analysts are paying close attention to the potential consequences of these events.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing international story.
Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.