Ceasefire Between Morocco and Polisario Front Ends in Western Sahara
An independence march for the Polisario-backed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Madrid. The Polisario Front ended the UN ceasefire brokered in 1991 on Friday (Creative Commons).
The pro-independence Polisario Front of Western Sahara declared on November 13 that a 1991 ceasefire with Morocco was over after a Moroccan military campaign sought to reclaim the Guerguerat border crossing with Mauritania.
Overnight, Moroccan forces set up a security outpost in Guerguerat, forcing Polisario separatist troops in Western Sahara out of the buffer zone and effectively granting control to Morocco. An armed skirmish broke out, but no casualties or injuries were reported.
Guerguerat, at the southwestern tip of Western Sahara, is of significant economic importance to Morocco, as the only trade route between Morocco and Mauritania runs through the border town. However, since late October, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that the Polisario Front has “carried out acts of banditry there, blocked the movement of people and goods on this road, and continually harassed the military observers of the MINURSO,” a UN peacekeeping mission. Moroccan goods must pass through a MINURSO-administered buffer zone on their way to Mauritania.
Tuesday, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani reported that an extension of the wall that separates the Polisario- and Morocco-controlled areas of Western Sahara was completed. According to El Othmani, the wall will secure “once and for all civilian and commercial traffic in Guerguerat between Morocco and Mauritania.”
Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, head of diplomacy for the unrecognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, the nation that the Polisario claims sovereignty over, said, “Thousands of volunteers are joining the military regions among those who have finished their training. Hundreds more are swelling the ranks of military schools.”
Foreign nations, including Mauritania and neighboring Algeria, are hoping that the cease-fire agreement can be salvaged. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “grave concern” over the conflict in the region.
“The Secretary-General remains committed to doing his utmost to avoid the collapse of the ceasefire that has been in place since 6 September 1991 and he is determined to do everything possible to remove all obstacles to the resumption of the political process,” said Mr. Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Once a protectorate of Spain known as the Spanish Sahara, the Western Sahara territory was split between Mauritania and Morocco in 1975 as a result of the Madrid Accords, which finalized Spain’s decolonization of the region.
The Polisario Front, founded in 1973 as the military wing of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic claiming sovereignty over the region, fought back against both countries. A 16-year guerilla war continued until 1991 when the UN brokered the settlement plan under dispute today.
The agreement guaranteed a referendum for the native Sahrawi peoples of Western Sahara, allowing them to decide between autonomy under the Kingdom of Morocco or to become a sovereign state. The referendum, however, has repeatedly been blocked by Morocco.