Western Sahara rebels warn of new war against Morocco
ALGIERS (AFP) — The Polisario Front warned Friday it will resume its war against Morocco over Western Sahara if negotiations on the future of the territory fail.
"The Moroccan government will assume the full consequences of any failure in the negotiating process, and in particular the resumption of military hostilities," the group said in a declaration approved at the end of a week-long party congress.
The congress said the Polisario would be taking part in the third round of talks due to take place at Manhasset, near New York, from January 7 to 9, "with the sincere hope that Morocco will not miss this precious opportunity for a fair and lasting peace."
But at the same time it called for its armed wing, the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, to be given "everything it needs, morally and materially, to increase its combat capability, as a matter of priority."
The front's leadership should make a thorough evaluation of the ongoing negotiations, draw the necessary conclusions and take the necessary steps "to defend the legitimate rights of the Sahrawi people to independence."
Morocco annexed the phosphate-rich mainly desert Western Sahara in the 1970s following the withdrawal of colonial power Spain, sparking a war with the Algerian-backed Polisario seeking independence for the territory.
The two sides agreed a ceasefire in 1991, but Rabat repeatedly pushed back a promised self-determination referendum and since 2002 has insisted such a vote is not necessary.
The Polisario is still holding out for a referendum, but two rounds of UN-sponsored exploratory talks, in June and August, have failed to bridge the gap between their respective positions.
The congress, attended by more than 1,700 delegates and 250 foreign delegates, was held at Tifraiti, in a buffer area of the Western Sahara near the border with Algeria.
The decision to hold the meeting in what the Polisario calls a "liberated area", for only the second time since the group was founded in 1973, infuriated Rabat, which called it a violation of the UN-brokered ceasefire.
The congress also criticised what it called the "inertia" of the UN mission for the organisation of a referendum and called on France and Spain -- which it considers pro-Moroccan -- to do more to this end.
Delegates re-elected Mohammed Abdelaziz as the movement's secretary general and "president" of the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is recognised by Algeria and a number of other African countries.
Speaking after the congress, Abdelaziz told the Algerian news agency APS that the Polisario was prepared for "a long war", and said he was not optimistic that Morocco would change its stance.
"The Sahrawis all want to resume the armed struggle but the Polisario continues to favour the diplomatic option for the time being," he said.
"The priority is a peaceful solution and negotiations, but these must be limited in time."
Abdelaziz warned, "We will resume the armed struggle once we are convinced that there is no progress, that Morocco does not want a peaceful solution and the UN has failed to bring about the decolonisation of Western Sahara."
The Polisario would decide after the next round of talks, he said.
