The Algerian-backed Polisario militias have surprisingly announced their intention to withdraw from the Guerguarat buffer strip area in the southernmost tip of the Moroccan southern provinces in a move to polish its image ahead of the UN Secretary General report on the Sahara. Therefore, by announcing willingness to cooperate with the UN, the Polisario is attempting to polish its image ahead of the UN meeting. It had earlier turned a deaf ear to the calls of the UN Secreatry Genera regarding an immediate withdrawal of troops and the need to maintain the flow of commercial traffic unobstructed. The withdrawal of Moroccan troops took the Polisario militias and their Algerian sponsors by surprise at a moment they were waiting for the Moroccan army to fall in the trap of provocation. Meanwhile, the Polisario’s hostile acts and its obstinacy to maintain its armed men within the buffer zone in an utter disregard for the ceasefire agreement are threatening with a casus belli the whole region.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 01, 2017 13:56 UTC