Ahmed Ahmed

Time for Morocco to Remove the Polisario from the equation once and for all In May, following the Polisario’s terrorist attack targeting civilians in the city of Smara, I published an analysis calling on the Moroccan government to move swiftly and take the necessary steps to secure the designation of the Polisario as a terrorist organization by the United States. In that article, I examined the far-reaching consequences such a designation could have for both Algeria and its proxy, the Polisario, including asset freezes, visa bans, financial restrictions, and other punitive measures. I also explained why Morocco should not wait for the US Congress to pass legislation designating the Polisario as a terrorist organization. Instead, Rabat could pursue a faster route by engaging directly with the White House, the State Department, or the Treasury Department to secure such a designation through the appropriate executive mechanisms. Furthermore, I highlighted Algeria’s and the Polisario’s bad faith and their determination to prolong the political process, hoping that a future US administration might prove more accommodating to their geopolitical calculations. In light of yesterday’s developments at the UN Security Council, which exposed Algeria’s unwillingness to engage in good faith in the political process and abide by the provisions of Security Council Resolution 2797, I believe it is now more urgent and opportune than ever for Morocco to leverage its strategic relationship with the United States to secure the Polisario’s designation as a terrorist organization. It is an open secret among foreign diplomatic establishments, foremost among them Washington, that the Polisario has never been the legitimate representative of the Sahrawis. Rather, it has served as a political instrument exploited by Algeria, against the will and interests of the Sahrawis themselves, to advance its own geostrategic objectives. This is not merely a political assertion. Declassified US intelligence documents dating back to the 1970s and 1980s extensively document Algeria’s use of the Polisario to advance its geopolitical objectives, as well as the military, financial, logistical, and diplomatic support Algiers provided to the movement. The time has come for Morocco to take decisive action in this direction and remove the Polisario from the political equation once and for all. shorturl.at/SMR6e