Polisario Group Plans Protest to Disrupt Morocco-Mauritania Border Crossing

The method the Polisario plans to use would be that of a convoy of several vehicles, carrying "civilians" who will organize a sit-in at the level of the buffer zone. The objective of these people, who would be manipulated by Algeria in El Guerguerat, would be to demand from the authorities the closure of the Moroccan-Mauritanian border. Many observers believe that the Algerian government is behind this initiative, the sole purpose of which is to attack Morocco’s interests, reports le360.

According to the Mauritanian site, elwiam.info, the Polisario alone does not have the strength and means to plan "the closure of the road connecting Morocco and Mauritania, a violation of the 1991 ceasefire." The site writes that "if this act seems to target Morocco, it is in reality and primarily directed against the vital interests of Mauritania, which maintains with Morocco genuine commercial ties through the supply of its markets. In addition to this, Mauritania also exports, via Morocco, significant frozen fish cargoes to European markets.

The Polisario views this relationship between the two countries in a bad light and resorts to all its strategies to sow trouble and prevent the economic benefits that the majority of West African countries derive from it. The UN, through its Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has formally prohibited the Polisario from sending armed men into the buffer zones or obstructing the commercial traffic passing through El Guergarat. Minurso observers are also keeping an eye on the area, the same source specifies.