Polisario Threatens to Disrupt Africa-Eco Race in Disputed Western Sahara Zone

Sources cited by the newspaper Al Massae claim that the Polisario has threatened to block one of the stages of the Rally as soon as it learned that the participants had planned a passage in this area on a map "underlining its Moroccanness".

Despite these threats, the organizers have decided to maintain this stage, specifies the newspaper according to which last year they had also threatened to block the passage of all vehicles bearing the Moroccan flag.

In March last year, the UN had expressed concern about the tensions in the buffer zone. "The members of the Security Council expressed concern about the situation in Guergarat, and recalled the importance of maintaining the status quo, as mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report, as well as the need for the full implementation of Resolution 2351," said the President of the Council, the Dutch ambassador to the UN, Karel van Oosterom, concerned about "the continued presence of armed elements of the Polisario Front in this region, and the challenges this poses to the raison d’être of this buffer zone."