It is the end of an era for the El-Assad family's rule in Syria. The regime, established in 1971 by the father, Hafez, has fallen. His son Bashar, in power since July 14, 2000, left the country on Saturday, heading to Russia. This escape of the now former Syrian president is bad news for the Polisario. It has just lost the last country in the Middle East that officially recognizes «SADR». This decision was made by the father of the ousted leader, following his adherence to an Arab front called «steadfastness», launched in December 1977 in Tripoli, at the initiative of the Libyan Colonel Gaddafi. A bloc of «rejection» that brought together Libya, Algeria, Syria, and South Yemen. The summit of this front in Algiers, in February 1978, ratified the recognition. Since then, the Polisario has had a representation in Damascus, with an office and a representative. The last official contact between the Polisario and Bashar El-Assad's regime dates back to October 2023 in Geneva, when the Syrian ambassador in Switzerland received a member of the Front. Bashar's Syria also paved the way, through a Lebanese formation, for the Polisario to organize, last June in the Lebanese capital, a conference on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab parties supporting Palestine. In exchange for this support, the separatist movement did not hesitate to send its militiamen to fight alongside Bashar El-Assad's forces, of which about thirty were arrested in Aleppo by opposition forces. As a reminder, Morocco expressed its reservations about Syria's reintegration into the Arab League. A decision confirmed at the Arab summit held on May 19, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, indicated on May 7, 2023, in Cairo during a meeting of the executive council of the Arab League that Syria's return «must serve as an incentive to launch a political process leading to a comprehensive and lasting solution to the crisis in this country».
