Morocco Reiterates its Rejection of Polisario’s Banditry in Buffer Strip

Morocco has condemned in the strongest terms the banditry practiced by the Polisario militias after the Algerian-backed separatist group threatened to disrupt an international car race crossing the tiny buffer strip between Morocco and Mauritania.

The remarks were made by Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita Friday at the inauguration ceremony by Guinea of its consulate in Dakhla in the Sahara.

The Polisario had been internationally rebuked for threatening to block the crossing of the Africa Eco Race rally.

The threats confirm once more the Polisario’s disregard for the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement which emphasizes the demilitarization of the territories east of the Moroccan security wall, including the short strip in Morocco’s southernmost tip on the borders with Mauritania.

Polisario’s provocations were also strongly condemned by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who stressed the importance “ to allow for regular civilian and commercial traffic to proceed and to refrain from any action that may constitute a change to the status quo of the Buffer Strip.”

The Africa Eco Race rally crossed peacefully because the Polisario and its mentors in Algiers are well aware that any assault on civilians crossing the border amounts to a casus belli that may sap the whole UN negotiation process on the Sahara issue.

The success of the Africa Eco Race rally is a “lesson” to the Polisario separatists and Algeria, which comes following a series of diplomatic setbacks notably the opening of five African consulates in the Sahara.

The Polisario’s threats to the car race are pitiful and typical of a bandit attitude, said Bourita, adding that it is impossible to reach a settlement of the Sahara issue with “bandits”.