لقد بذل الدبلوماسيون جهوداً شاقة للتوسط في إجراء مفاوضات بشأن منطقة الصحراء الغربية المتنازع عليها منذ أواخر عام 2020، عندما انهار وقف لإطلاق النار بين المغرب وجبهة البوليساريو الداعية لاستقلال المنطقة. إذا رفعت واشنطن مستوى انخراطها في الوساطة، فقد تتمكن من إعادة إطلاق العملية.
Polisario Front suspected of involvement in explosion at Moroccan mining infrastructure.
Videos purportedly showing explosion at conveyor belt transporting phosphate near mine in Boucraa town, 100km east of Laayoune in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara, circulated online 4 June. Moroccan media outlets speculated group may be responsible while pro-Polisario activists spoke of planned attack; some believe Polisario also responsible for similar explosion at same phosphate conveyor belt in May 2023. Neither Polisario nor Morocco supported claim of group’s involvement, however, as former feared accusations of terrorism and latter wanted to reassure investors and international partners that Western Sahara is safe and Polisario does not pose threat.
We're seeing a diplomatic war [over Western Sahara], where both sides [Algeria and Morocco] are resorting to anything short of open conflict.
This edition includes entries on Cameroon, South Sudan, Venezuela and Western Sahara, offering a snapshot into emergent conflicts and crises in the next three to six months in a clear, accessible format, identifying triggers, key dates to watch and potential behaviour of conflict actors, to support global conflict prevention efforts.
On 29 October, the UN Security Council will vote on the UN mission in Western Sahara’s renewal. Following last year’s resumption of hostilities and the appointment of a new envoy, Council members should signal their commitment to relaunching negotiations and an even-handed approach to the conflict.
Hugh Pope is joined by North Africa experts Intissar Fakir and Riccardo Fabiani to ask whether Morocco holds a winning hand in its conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara as Europe looks on timidly, wary of direct challenges to the regional power.
ما يزال القتال الذي اندلع في الصحراء الغربية مرة أخرى في تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر 2020 منخفض الشدة. إلاّ أن القوى الخارجية ستكون مخطئة إذا افترضت أنه لن يتصاعد. ولذلك ينبغي على مبعوث الأمم المتحدة الجديد، وبدعم من الولايات المتحدة، أن يتخذ خطوات لبناء الثقة من شأنها أن تيسّر إجراء المفاوضات.
This week on Hold Your Fire!, Rob Malley and guest host Richard Atwood talk with Dahlia Scheindlin and Crisis Group’s North Africa Project Director Riccardo Fabiani about the normalisation of relations between Israel and Morocco and the accompanying U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, have long been run by the Polisario movement, which seeks an independent state in Western Sahara, also claimed by Morocco. But a new generation of Sahrawi refugees is growing fractious as aid dwindles and diplomatic efforts fail to deliver a settlement.
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