New York, 27 October 2019 (SPS) - President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Brahim Ghali, has called for the immediate closure of the illegal border area of El Guergarat, opened by Morocco.
In a letter to members of the Security Council, Ghali said that the Polisario Front had neither agreed to the opening of the crossing border nor approved "trade traffic" in the region.
The Polisario Front would not accept attempts by the occupying power or a third party to normalize the illegal situation in El Guerguerat or in the occupied Sahrawi territories, he added.
The Sahrawi President regretted that the latest report of the UN Secretary-General did not provide the Security Council with a complete and accurate view of the situation in El Guerguerat, recalling that the illegal border opened by Morocco did not exist at the time of the implementation of the ceasefire on 6 September 1991, nor when the Military Agreement No. 1 between MINURSO and the Polisario Front was concluded on 24 December 1997.
In a previous letter sent in early October to the UN Secreatary General, the Sahrawi Head of State warned of the deadlock in the peace process, due to blockages caused by Morocco, particularly after the resignation of Horst Kohler, former UN Personal envoy for Western Sahara
The United Nations should not allow the political process to be "hostage" to Morocco's preconditions for derailing the decolonization process in Western Sahara, said Ghali denouncing the occupying power's attempts to consolidate the status quo, and influencing the appointment of the Secretary General's new Personal Envoy.
The Polisario Front SG said that the rise in tensions in the El Guergarat region, because of Morocco's destabilizing actions, requires a "robust UN response."
The Security Council will meet on October 30 to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso). (SPS)
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