After failing to mention the conflict in the Sahara in the coalition government agreement signed at the end of October with the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), the Sumar party, led by Yolanda Diaz, wanted to make up for it by signing an informal agreement with the Polisario to defend the interests of the Sahrawi independence movement during the next legislature.
Revelations have been made about Iran’s support for the Polisario, protected by Algeria, which continues to claim the independence of the Sahara, but also about Tehran’s expansionist approach in North Africa.
In an interview, Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region (Les Républicains), deplores the lasting disaffection between Paris and Rabat due to France’s Algerian tropism.
Three new shots were reported in the night from Saturday to Sunday, not far from a military base located near the city of Smara, in the Moroccan Sahara. This could be a new attack by the Polisario.
A Mauritanian arrested in possession of Polisario militiamen’s uniforms was sentenced on Thursday by the criminal chamber of the court of first instance in Tangier to 20 years in prison and a heavy fine.
The rockets used in the attacks carried out on Sunday against civilians in Smara, in the Moroccan Sahara, would be Russian Katyusha or Grad models of the latest generation, similar to those used by the Polisario militias against the Moroccan Armed Forces.
The Polisario denies having carried out an attack on the city of Smara, in the Moroccan Sahara, but admits to having bombed several sites in the area.
Omar Hilale, Morocco’s permanent representative to the United Nations, reacted to the attack that the Polisario claimed to have carried out on Saturday night into Sunday in the city of Es-Semara, which left one dead and three injured, two of them in serious condition.
The Polisario Front claimed on Monday at the UN the attack of last Saturday against the city of Smara, in the Moroccan Sahara, stating that it is "at war against the Moroccan occupation forces".
A young man on vacation in Morocco died in the military operation that the Polisario, protected by Algeria, claims to have carried out on Sunday in the city of Es-Semara. His name is Hamza Jeaifri.
Suspicions about the involvement of the Polisario, protected by Algeria, in the attacks on Es-Semara are confirmed. The movement claimed overnight on Sunday a military operation targeting the sectors of Mahbès, Es-Semara and Farsia. These attacks come on the eve of the adoption of the Security Council resolution on the Sahara.
Pedro Sanchez (PSOE) and Yolanda Diaz (Sumar) signed on Tuesday an agreement for the formation of a coalition government. The text does not mention Spain’s policy towards Morocco, and mainly the Sahara issue.