After months of silence, the Polisario Front is again complaining about the Moroccan presence in the Guerguerate area. In a letter sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Brahim Ghali, urged the organization to change the situation in the buffer zone. However, the Polisario Front claimed in the past that it has scored a much-publicized victory regarding the same issue. A few hours before the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2351, extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until April 2018 on the 28th of April, the Polisario had bowed to pressure ordering its militias to withdraw from Guerguerate. Starting from that moment, tension significantly faded away. Indeed, commercial activity has resumed and trucks carrying goods from Morocco to Mauritania, Senegal and Mali drive through the buffer zone without encountering a problem. Six months later, the Polisario leadership decided to break the calm and try a new maneuver. In a letter to the UN Secretary General, Brahim Ghali said that the movement «can no longer accept the situation on the ground», reports the SPS news agency. According to Ghali, the Moroccan presence in Guerguerate is «a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement and an illegal unilateral change of the status quo». Therefore, the Polisario leader asked Antonio Guterres in his message for «a solution as soon as possible». A fake victory As strange as it might sound, Brahim Ghali's letter proves that the «victory» the Front leadership was promoting last year is actually a fake one. This was clearly expressed through the letter which endorses a victimized discourse. This letter is sent as the fifteen members of the Security Council have not scheduled any meeting on Western Sahara in this month. The letter would rather be a foot call to the States supporting its position to question the Moroccan presence in the region, knowing the Querguerate have not made headlines since April 2017. Bolivia or Uruguay (whose term ends on 31 December) could call for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue at the Security Council. Sending letters to the UN Secretary-General is an essential component of the Polisario policy. This was the case when Mohamed Addelaziz was leading the movement before Brahim Ghali who is following the same path.
