Letters from Ambassador Hilale to Security Council, UN SG Denouncing South Africa’s Complicity with Algeria and ‘Polisario’ 

Morocco’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Omar Hilale, denounced, in two letters addressed Wednesday to the UN Secretary General and to the resident and members of the Security Council, South Africa’s complicity with Algeria and the “polisario”, its unconditional appropriation of Algeria’s geopolitical agenda and its blind ideological support to the armed separatist group. Reacting to a letter circulated by the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN on the Moroccan Sahara, Hilale stressed that the Kingdom of Morocco “deeply regrets that South Africa lends itself, once again, to the role of factor of an armed separatist group, whose connections with terrorism in the Sahel are proven,” stating that the infamous terrorist “adnan abu walid sahrawi”, was a member of the “polisario” before becoming head of the terrorist group “Islamic state in the greater sahara” and recalling that this individual had his habits of taking refuge in the camps of Tindouf, and to be treated there, before being eliminated, on September 15, 2021.” Hilale added that the associate of abu walid sahrawi, the notorious terrorist “lakhal sidi salama”, alias “abdelhakim sahraoui”, was also a member of the “polisario” and was eliminated on 23 May 2021. In the same context, the diplomat said that the German newspaper Die Welt, January 27, 2023, published the results of an investigation based on the convergent reports of several European intelligence services, confirming, with supporting evidence, that the “polisario” has made the Tindouf camps a hub for the financing of terrorism in the Sahel, through the “hawala” which allows the illicit and anonymous transfer of funds between Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, including to terrorist groups and actors involved in regional destabilization. Hilale also pointed out that Morocco still regrets that the Permanent Mission of South Africa serves as a messenger of a fictitious entity not recognized by the UN, and the alleged results of a farce called “16th congress of the polisario, pointing out that Algeria has paid huge sums to bring in private jets, to this so-called “congress”, mercenaries of speech from Europe and elsewhere, while women and children in the camps of Tindouf suffer from malnutrition, anemia, diphtheria and lack of school materials. The ambassador added that “to speak of decisions of this so-called ‘congress’ is an insult to the intelligence of the UN Secretary General and members of the Security Council, because they are decisions, prepared in advance by the host country, Algeria, and then imposed on participants in this masquerade, as was the parody ‘election’ of the so-called ‘Brahim Ghali’ ”. The Moroccan diplomat stressed that the Kingdom greatly regrets that South Africa, which participates in the same capacity as Morocco in several peacekeeping operations, particularly in Africa, missed the opportunity to avoid becoming an accomplice by transmitting an anti-UN slur, denigrating its actions and attacking the very efforts of the Security Council on the Moroccan Sahara. He said that South Africa should have asked itself why Algeria, the main party to this regional dispute, avoids each time to transmit the letters of its “polisario”, and charges another country, in this case South Africa, of this low task, adding that Algeria, which created this armed separatist group, shelters it on its territory, arms it, finances it and makes it the priority agenda of its diplomacy, should have the political courage to fully assume its acts, and this by circulating, through its own Permanent Mission, the propagandist manifestos of its creation.” Hilale said that “the outsourcing by Algeria of its diplomatic transmission service is morally unscrupulous and politically disrespectful of the United Nations”. The ambassador added that Morocco also regrets that the Permanent Mission of South Africa agrees to circulate to the members of the Security Council a letter signed by the leader of the separatist group “polisario”, the so-called “brahim ghali”, prosecuted in Europe for rape and torture, adding that the transmission of this so-called letter, on the eve of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and the International Women’s Day, is an affront to the victims of the so-called brahim ghali, who are still suffering the physical, psychological and societal after-effects of his crimes. “The Kingdom of Morocco strongly regrets that South Africa distributes a letter full of lies about the human rights situation in the Moroccan Sahara, while the Security Council welcomes, in its successive resolutions, the role of the two regional commissions of the National Human Rights Council in Laayoune and Dakhla, as well as Morocco’s cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms,” Hilale said. He also pointed out that “the allegations peddled by this letter are both fallacious and contradictory: the participation in this so-called ‘congress’ of some separatist elements from the Saharan provinces of Morocco are clear proof of the lies of the ‘polisario’, and the irrefutable confirmation of the full enjoyment by these individuals of their freedoms of movement, movement and expression, thanks to the democracy and rule of law that prevail in the Moroccan Sahara. This is unfortunately not the case of the populations detained in the open-air prison of the Tindouf camps”. The Moroccan ambassador to the UN stressed that the Kingdom also regrets that South Africa, which aspires to assume an important role in the maintenance of international peace and security, transmits to the members of the Security Council a letter that promotes war, calls for armed violence and terrorist acts, falsely justifies the denunciation of the ceasefire, and violates the Security Council resolutions. In this regard, Hilale said that by its act of factor, South Africa participates in the maintenance of the “polisario” and its progenitor Algeria, in their Tindoufian mirage of the Settlement Plan and the referendum, well and truly dead and definitively disappeared from the lexicon of the resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary General of the UN, for over two decades. The ambassador also said that Morocco would like to remind South Africa that its unconditional appropriation of Algeria’s geopolitical agenda and its blind ideological support for the armed separatist group “polisario” will not help in any way to resolve this regional dispute, nor will it put an end to the decennial suffering of the detained populations of the Tindouf camps. He also stressed that the Security Council, for over two decades, made the final choice of the political solution, based on pragmatism, realism, compromise and mutual acceptance, noting that it is this choice that a large number of countries have followed by recognizing the Moroccan Sahara for some, strong and frank support for the Moroccan autonomy initiative for many others, and the opening of Consulates General in the Moroccan cities of Laayoune and Dakhla for several. “South Africa would benefit from inviting Algeria and its “polisario” to comply with international legality by implementing Security Council Resolution 2654 and this, by participating in good faith in the roundtable process to end this regional dispute,” he said. In conclusion, Hilale stressed that South Africa can make history by joining the momentum for peace, led by the Security Council, and by a hundred countries around the world, stating that this large majority of countries support the exclusive efforts of the UN Secretary-General, his Personal Envoy and the Security Council, and back the autonomy Initiative as the one and only solution to this regional dispute.