Morocco Acts to Restore Trade, Civil Traffic Blocked by Polisario in W. Sahara Buffer Zone
Morocco has taken measures in a bid to restore passenger movement and the transportation of commercial goods, which were recently blocked by the Polisario Front independence movement in Western Sahara's buffer zone, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, calling on the United Nations to influence the situation and withdraw Polisario from the strip
MOSCOW/CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2020) Morocco has taken measures in a bid to restore passenger movement and the transportation of commercial goods, which were recently blocked by the Polisario Front independence movement in Western Sahara's buffer zone, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, calling on the United Nations to influence the situation and withdraw Polisario from the strip.
"Faced with the serious and unacceptable provocations of the "polisario" militias in the buffer zone of El Guergarat in the Moroccan Sahara, Morocco has decided to act, in accordance with its attributions, its duties and in full compliance with international legality," the ministry said in an official statement published on its website.
The kingdom's authorities had no other choice but to assume responsibility in a bid to "put an end to the deadlock situation ... and restore free civil and commercial movement," the ministry added.
According to the ministry, such acts undermine any attempts toward resuming the political process, as the movement's actions constitute violations of military agreements and the 2414 and 2440 resolutions issued by the UN Security Council, in particular, which call on Polisario to end "these destabilizing acts.
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In October, Polisario's armed groups invaded the Morocco-controlled territories of Western Sahara by blocking passenger traffic and commercial transport of goods across the border with Mauritania. The movement also impeded the work of observers of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), according to the state-run MAP news agency.
"The Kingdom of Morocco has given all the time necessary to the good offices of the Secretary General of the United Nations and MINURSO in order to push the 'polisario' to stop its destabilizing actions and leave the buffer zone of El Guergerat," the ministry said, adding that, however, the UN attempts to interfere in the situation were unsuccessful.
Morocco has been involved in a conflict with the Polisario Front movement over the control of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was transferred under control of Morocco and Mauritania in 1975. In 1976, Polisario declared that it had established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. This partially recognized state claims Western Sahara but controls only a small part of it.