U.S. deadline given to Polisario to comply expires, paving the way for its designation terrorist organization

U.S. congressmen Joe Wilson (Republican) and Jimmy Panetta (Democrat) have introduced in June a legislation designating Algeria-backed Polisario militias a foreign terrorist organization.

On August 24, the 90-day deadline stipulated by H.R. 4119: “Polisario Front Terrorist Designation Act” expired, setting in motion the legal process for branding the Polisario separatist group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).

The Bill includes details on the group’s leadership, military activities, and foreign support. It lists compelling evidences on Polisario’s ties with terrorist groups, Iran and its proxies (Hezbollah, Hamas…) and the PKK/YPG terrorist organization.

The Polisario’s deadly rocket attacks targeting civilians in Samra and ties to Iran, including training with Iranian-linked groups and access to advanced military equipment like drones, have raised national security concerns for the United States.

The Bill requires the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury to assess whether the Polisario Front meets criteria for designation as a FTO and the imposition of sanctions under relevant U.S. laws and executive order

The text also includes a provision allowing the President to waive the designation and sanctions if the Polisario Front accepts Morocco’s Autonomy plan offered for the Sahara under its sovereignty. The Moroccan plan is supported by the UN and the United States.

Labelling Polisario as an FTO will restrict its movements abroad, freeze the funds of separatists in international banks, confiscate their assets and ban any activities or gatherings related to them.

Any entity or country such as Algeria or South Africa associated with funding, supporting, or cooperating with the Polisario will face criminal charges and economic sanctions.

According to press reports, the United States, penholder of the resolutions on the Sahara, is exerting pressure on the Algerian regime to disband the Polisario militia and support the Autonomy plan, the ONLY realistic solution to the Sahara conflict. This means the self-determination referendum option has been buried definitively and a major diplomatic setback for the Algerian regime.