Sahara: Algiers, the Polisario jump on everything to score points but only glean failures
The Polisario Front and its Algerian mentor have tried every manoeuver in an attempt to score even the least points in their struggle against Morocco around its Sahara, but they only gleaned a succession of failures.
After they conceded with bitterness their failures on the diplomatic level in the UN, Africa and Europe, not to speak of the Arab world, which ignores their illegitimate claims, the Polisario leaders, at the order of their Algerian sponsors, resorted to alleged “violation of human rights in Western Sahara”, but it was to no avail. Their allegations were quickly revealed as groundless.
Likewise, their plots to incite the pro-Polisario separatists living in the Moroccan Sahara to multiply their provocations of the law enforcement agents in these southern provinces proved a fiasco, as did their recent manoeuvers in the buffer strip of Guerguerat. The Moroccans knew how to avoid biting the hook.
The latest discovery of the Algerian mentor was to incite the Polisario to denounce the so-called “looting” by Morocco of the natural resources (fish, phosphate, and vegetables and fruits) of the Western Sahara.
To support the Polisario on this new battlefield, Algerian leaders have bribed lavishly NGOs, lawyers and Western experts to follow the course of the merchant ships from the moment they leave the ports of the Moroccan southern provinces until they reach their destination.
Thus, the justice of South Africa, one of Morocco’s fierce opponents, was convinced to order the seizure of the Cherry Blossom, a ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, which was conveying a cargo of 55,000 tons of Moroccan phosphate worth $5 million dollars from the port of Laayoune to New Zealand. The boat was immobilized in Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
On Tuesday (May 23), Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, who was addressing the Upper House of the Parliament, warned South Africa against any “political exploitation” of the seizure of the Cherry Blossom, recalling that “Universal legal jurisdiction is generally limited to cases of crimes against humanity, torture…”. Morocco will never accept this unhealthy political exploitation that aims to undermine its legitimate interests, Bourita said.
The Polisario also tried to convince Panama authorities to hail Ultra Innovation, a ship that was transporting Moroccan phosphate to Vancouver in Canada, but their plan failed. After verifying that the shipment was consistent with the rules of international law and international trade, Panamanian authorities authorized the ship to continue its journey, much to the dismay of the Polisario and its Algerian sponsor.