Udenrigsudvalget 2017-18
URU Alm.del Bilag 198
Offentligt
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Violation by “polisario” of the cease fire and the buffer zone
in Sahara
The question of the Sahara is a question of territorial integrity;
The “polisario”, encouraged by Algeria, has persisted in violations of the ceasefire and
military agreements (notably Military agreement n°1), posing a threat to security and
stability in the region.
By referring « Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara as occupation » flagrantly
contradict the language that has been used in the United Nations. For over 40 years, there
has not been any General Assembly resolution on the Sahara issue that has conferred
such a status on Morocco. In the parlance of the United Nations, the Sahara is considered
a «disputed territory» rather than an «occupied territory». This word is not in line with the
history of the region: The Sahara was indeed occupied and colonized at one point but by
Spain, which took the land from Morocco in the 20
th
century, and fully relinquished it in
1975. The use of this word was, and continues to be, an obvious attempt to inflame
emotions and manipulate facts.
The concept « Morocco’s occupation » often appears in similar polisario's advocate where
the writer either deliberately chooses to ignore the historical background, or is simply
ignorant of the broader historical context and relevant facts of the Sahara issue.
Since 1973, Algeria has opposed the achievement of the territorial integrity of Morocco
and embarked on a deliberate policy of systematically thwarting the legitimate rights of
Morocco and supporting the “polisario”.
Algeria has a blatant responsibility in the regional dispute that has lasted more than 40
years. Algeria finances, houses, arms and diplomatically supports the polisario. It is for
this reason that Morocco has always called for Algeria to play an important role in the
political process, for Algeria to assume its responsibilities in the search for solutions, and
for Algeria to play a role in the height of its responsibility in the genesis and evolution of
the regional dispute
Morocco maintains the commitment it has made to buy into the current momentum
desired by the UN Secretary-General and to cooperate with his Personal Envoy:
1. SG's Personal Envoy Horst Kohler made his first visit to the region in October
2017. In this context, he visited Rabat, the first leg of his visit, from 15 to 17
October 2017. During meetings with His Majesty King Mohammed VI,
Moroccan officials reiterated Morocco's infallible commitment to the political
process and mutually acceptable to the regional dispute over the Moroccan
Sahara;
2. At the invitation of the Personal Envoy, a Moroccan delegation led by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Mr. Nasser Bourita,
had a bilateral meeting with the Personal Envoy in Lisbon on March 6, 2018. This
meeting is part of Morocco's ongoing cooperation with the UN to reach a final
political solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
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 URU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 198: Henvendelse af 2. maj 2018 fra Dansk Marokkansk Råd om Polisarios overtrædelse af våbenhvile i bufferzonen i Sahara
The fundamental principles of the Moroccan position are:
1. No regulation of the Sahara affair is possible outside the full sovereignty of
Morocco over its Sahara, and outside the autonomy initiative, which the
international community has recognized as serious and credible;
2. The problem is not to find a solution to this case, but rather to come to define
the process to follow to achieve it. It is therefore incumbent upon the parties at
the root of this fabricated conflict, in the framework of the cold war, to assume
full responsibility for the search for a definitive settlement.;
3. Full respect for the principles adopted by the Security Council for the treatment
of this artificial regional conflict; the UN body is, in fact, the only international
body responsible for overseeing the regulatory process;
4. The categorical refusal of any overreach, of any attempt to undermine the
legitimate rights of Morocco and its superior interests, of any obsolete proposal
aimed at excluding the plan of regulation of the referential parameters retained,
the misappropriation of other subjects, which are dealt with by competent
institutions.
To break the stalemate, Morocco proposed in 2007 the initiative for the negotiation of a
Statute of Autonomy of the Sahara region. This new initiative finds a positive response in
the international community as credible and realistic. In 2008, Peter Van Walsum (back
then Personal Envoy of the UN SG for the Sahara) said, that independence is not a
realistic goal and that the “polisario” should give it up;
The Back then General Secretary of the United Nations, M. Kofi Annan, concluded in his
report to the Security Council “the inapplicability of the settlement plan of 1991 and
therefore the referendum”. Similarly, the Security Council has rejected the referendum,
for 17 years, once and for all, and this is in favor of a political, negotiated and mutually
acceptable solution;
For some time, there has been a proliferation of provocations and blackmail towards
MINURSO, military deployments and media announcements all aimed at altering the
legal and historical status of the area of the East of the safety zone, and in particular in
Bir Lahlou Tifariti and Guerguarate (buffer zone)
The “polisario”, encouraged by Algeria, has persisted in violations of the ceasefire and
military agreements, posing a threat to security and stability in the region.
To this end, the campaign launched by the other parties with false comments aims at
further delaying any consensual and final political solution.
Historically, the area to the east of the safety zone is an integral part of Moroccan
territory. It is well defined as an uninhabited "buffer zone", in the military agreements
concluded between Morocco and the Minurso, with the sole aim of avoiding any military
clash with the Algerian army and contributing to the consolidation of the ceasefire. fire.
The area to the east of the safety zone, between the buffer zone and the international
borders of Morocco, which includes the locality of Bir Lahlou, Tifariti and Guerguarate,
has been placed under the responsibility of the United Nations, and has never been de
facto or de juré, considered a "liberated territory", as the other parties claim.
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 URU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 198: Henvendelse af 2. maj 2018 fra Dansk Marokkansk Råd om Polisarios overtrædelse af våbenhvile i bufferzonen i Sahara
Since the entry into force of the ceasefire on 6 September 1991, the “polisario”, with the
complicity and implication of Algeria, has been trying to change the reality on the ground
and to change the legal status of the area to the east of the safety zone.
Morocco has several times alerted the UN about attacks on the status of this area as an
uninhabited buffer zone. Morocco has always denounced to the UN the various activities,
visits and meetings and congresses organized by the “polisario” in this area (letter of His
Majesty the King late Hassan II, dated 03.09.1991, letters of the Permanent
Representative of Morocco to the UN dated 27.01.2006 and 10.12.2007)
Security Council Resolution 2351 (2017), the last two reports of the SG on the Moroccan
Sahara (2017 and 2018) and its calls, demanded the immediate and unconditional
withdrawal of the "polisario" from the buffer zone and the need to "not hinder in any
way the freedom of civil and commercial circulation in the buffer zone and that no
action, which would change the status quo of the buffer zone, would should be
undertaken ";
In his draft report 2018, and regarding the situation in the buffer zone, the General
Secretary of the United Nations calls the “polisario” to withdraw immediately from the
buffer zone as he did in april 2017 and appreciates the measured action of the Kingdom
of Morocco
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