Polisario Front Representative to the United Nations, Sidi Mohamed Omar said on Friday that the only way forward would be to end the current conflict in the disputed Western Sahara region.
“There is a war going on between the Sahrawi Republic and the Moroccan occupying state, and this war itself represents the first challenge that Mr. Staffan de Mistura will have to face in order to initiate the peace process,” he said
The UN envoy visited refugee camps in Algeria on Saturday in a renewed bid to find a diplomatic solution to the territory. The territory was a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975.
Polisario front independence activists expressed frustration at decades of diplomatic deadlock.
Refugee camp resident Hussin Mahmoud demands the implementation of UN’s resolutions.
“We ask the UN Secretary General and his special envoy to implement the resolutions signed by both sides. We are not asking for anything other than our right to independence,” he said.
In 2020, the Polisario Front ended a 29-year cease-fire with Morocco after a border confrontation with the Moroccan army, a decision fuelled by impatience among younger Sahrawi who demand the long-awaited referendum promised by the UN.
Morocco won a major diplomatic victory in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco normalising diplomatic relations with Israel.
