Armed clashes between Morocco and the Polisario Front reflect the movement’s frustration with a three-decade status quo that has frozen its dreams of independence in the Western Sahara, analysts say. Under the 1991 truce deal, Morocco controls around three-quarters of the Western Sahara, including its considerable phosphate deposits and access to its rich Atlantic fisheries. The Polisario is now “desperate”, said a western diplomat, on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue. But despite the 1991 Security Council resolution calling for “a referendum for self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara”, Morocco points out that the most recent resolution makes no mention of a vote. ‘Freedom or death’Algerian former diplomat Abdelaziz Rahabi said Sahrawis were right “not to give much credit to the UN”, saying the world body’s Western Sahara mission MINURSO had been reduced to the role of “traffic police”.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 23, 2020 16:07 UTC