Morocco Denies Rumors on Direct Talks with Polisario

The Moroccan government has neither approved nor planned direct talks with the Polisario, contrary to what Algerian and Polisario media have claimed.

The denial was expressed by Government’s Spokesperson, Mustapha El Khalfi, in a press briefing Thursday, putting an end to the propaganda spread by pro-separatist media, eager for fictive victories after the numerous setbacks they suffered at the international level.

Recently, speaking from Algiers, Polisario official, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, claimed that direct talks between the Polisario and Morocco were planned by Horst Köhler the UN Envoy for the Sahara. He went as far as threatening a military intervention by the AU if Morocco refuses to engage in direct talks.

El Khelfi rejected such rumors about the talks as “baseless” adding that the Polisario is desperate to cover its defeats at all levels.

Spreading propaganda about talks and an imaginary AU military intervention is indicative of a disarray within the Polisario ranks as it sees support for its separtist cause fading away with the return of Morocco to the pan-African organization.

In the AU’s summit last January, 19 African countries submitted their reservations about a report using separatist vocabulary and urged the report to be scrapped.