Western Sahara conflict to end when Morocco 'occupation' over: Polisario

The pro-independence Polisario Front said Monday that conflict in Western Sahara would only halt once Morocco ends its "occupation" of the disputed territory.

"The end of the war is now linked to the end of the illegal occupation of parts of the territory of the Sahrawi Republic," said senior Polisario official Mohamed Salem Ould Salek.

"The war only started as a consequence of Morocco's aggression and action in Guerguerat," said Ould Salek, who is foreign minister of the Polisario-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Morocco launched a military operation on Friday to reopen a key highway at the Guerguerat border crossing between the territory and Mauritania that it said had been blocked by the Polisario.

The Algerian-backed Polisario responded by declaring the end of an almost three-decade UN-supervised ceasefire in Western Sahara.

The Polisario does not recognise the existence of the highway in Guerguerat which Morocco has accused them of blocking, thereby halting trade with the rest of Africa.

"It is not an international or even regional road. It is being used to loot the natural resources of the Sahrawi people," Ould Salek said, accusing Morocco for starting the latest conflict.

He also called for the full implementation of the 1991 ceasefire as a condition for an end to the hostilities.

He was referring to a self-determination referendum set out in the ceasefire deal that the Polisario has been constantly demanding over the past 30 years.

The vote has been repeatedly postponed due to disputes between Rabat and the Polisario over voter rolls and the question to be put on the ballot.

Morocco says it is still committed to the ceasefire.

The Moroccan official news agency MAP said late Sunday that Rabat's military had responded to fire by the Polisario Front along a UN-patrolled buffer zone.

"Since 13 November 2020, Polisario militias have fired provocative shots along the line of defence without causing human or material damage," MAP said, citing the Far-Maroc unofficial website dedicated to military news.

Retaliatory fire from the Moroccans destroyed an armoured vehicle east of the line of defence at El Mahbes, it said on its Facebook page.

On Sunday, the Polisario reported intense fighting along the 2,700-kilometre Moroccan wall of defence that cuts through Western Sahara.

It also announced that it was mobilising "thousands of volunteers" to join Polisario Front fighters.

The territory is tough to travel through and Moroccan authorities do not allow journalists access, making it difficult to verify reports from either side.

Rabat controls around three quarters of the Western Sahara, a vast swathe of desert on the Atlantic coast, including its phosphate deposits and its lucrative ocean fisheries. The Polisario controls the remainder.

Morocco maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom and has offered autonomy for the disputed territory, but insists it will retain sovereignty.

Negotiations involving Morocco, Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania have been at a standstill since 2019.