FM FASSI FIHRI STRESSES GOM CONCERN OVER POLISARIO

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000236 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NEA/MAG AND IO/UNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2018 TAGS: PREL PBTS WI MO SUBJECT: FM FASSI FIHRI STRESSES GOM CONCERN OVER POLISARIO INTENTIONS IN TRANS-BERM SAHARA REF: ALGIERS 0294 (NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary and Introduction: Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri called in the Ambassadors of the five UNSC Permanent Members March 7 to formally table a complaint about Polisario activity in the trans-berm area of the Western Sahara. He acknowledged that Moroccan complaints about this up to now had not resonated, but he insisted they were serious, and that Morocco may be obliged to react. We would not be surprised to see this raised at Manhasset and believe current USG advice that all parties should avoid both provocation and reaction should continue. We would also appreciate it if Embassies Madrid and Pretoria could confirm alleged financial assistance for construction in Tifariti. End summary. ¶2. (C) To Ambassador Riley and his colleagues, Foreign Minister Fassi Fihri highlighted the latest developments in the trans-berm buffer zone, particularly Abdel Aziz's laying of a cornerstone for a sports complex/stadium at Tifariti, to be built with support from South Africa, housing paid for by Algeria and a city hall to be sponsored by the Spanish City of Seville. "This changes everything," he said, as the Polisario is now talking about populating Tifariti and making it the future capital of its "phantom" state. This is an unacceptable assertion of a "sovereign" right of the Polisario to build in Moroccan territory, which the GOM voluntarily did not include inside the berm, but never relinquished. He insisted that the Polisario had to violate Mauritanian territory to reach Tifariti and associated areas. ¶3. (C) The Minister insisted that Morocco would not accept the Polisario,s developing the trans-berm territory, claiming it contradicted understandings connected with the cease fire. Morocco, he repeated, would "do something" unspecified. ¶4. (C) Fassi Fihri handed Ambassadors a packet of material. The packet (copy e-mailed to NEA/MAG) was covered by a non-paper that charged Algeria and the Polisario with an aggressive strategy towards the negotiations based on three key points: exploitation of the human rights issue: a vain effort by Algeria to distance itself from the issue, while putting forward in parallel the "RASD" as an "irreversible reality," and a policy of creating a fait accompli in the area "east" of the berm. The non-paper complained about the creation by Polisario of a Ministry for the settlement and reconstruction of the liberated territories." It claimed these measures violated UNSCR 1783's call for an atmosphere favorable to negotiation, and that they exacerbated the security threat in the region, along with terror and migration threats. Morocco, which kept this "no man's land," free of its own military presence, could not accept it as a zone that is either "liberated" or "under the sovereignty" of the Polisario, and the GOM believed it should have no civilian presence )- as is currently the case. It declared that Morocco cannot ignore any challenge to the status quo or its territorial integrity. ¶5. (C) The packet also included the Sahrawi Press Service release of a letter of congratulations sent by Bouteflika to Polisario Chief Abdel Aziz on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the Sahrawi Republic; a Polisario communique on the celebration of the event at Tifariti, which noted that Abdel Aziz had laid the foundation stone for the sports complex; and the Moroccan MFA communique following the event stating that it would not tolerate any change in the status quo. It also included copies of an exchange of letters from 1991, the time of the cease fire, between King Hassan II and UNSYG Perez de Cuellar in which the King stated that Morocco had the right of control, but was voluntarily abstaining from policing its territory (implying beyond the berm) in order to maintain the cease fire and to give the peace process a chance of success. The SYG's response took note of and expressed satisfaction over that restraint. Ambassador Riley noted interest in details of what had been announced. Other Ambassadors were generally in a listening mode, undertaking to convey the message to their capitals. ¶6. (C) Comment: The Polisario has indeed announced that it would build a city hall and settle Tifariti and has claimed Seville would fund a dam for water storage, although it is not clear that a dam would make much difference in habitability. The MINURSO team site there has to truck in its water from Algeria. There are barely any functional buildings in Tifariti, which mission staff has visited. A small compound there houses the two-room headquarters of the Polisario,s "second military district," and a museum features a Moroccan jet fighter allegedly shot down by the Polisario during the bombing attack that destroyed the tiny ex-Spanish district headquarters during the pre-1991 fighting. The compound also houses an equipped but empty hospital and a school building, both paid for by Spanish regions but neither functional. The GOM apparently did not make a major fuss over their construction a few years back. The celebration of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic,s (RASD,s) anniversary on February 27 seems notable, according to MINURSO sources, for the absence of the formal parade of military equipment the Polisario has conducted there on the past two anniversaries. ¶7. (C) Comment continued: The Moroccans have indicated no expectation of real progress in Manhasset. They continue to push the trans-berm question, however, expending important diplomatic effort. It is possible to interpret the 1991 exchange of letters as an indication that the GOM would leave the trans-berm areas alone. The message is not only diplomatic, however. Press and MINURSO report the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces (FAR) has been conducting, for the first time in many years, major maneuvers, reportedly involving some 2500 military. These are being conducted near the berm, mostly in the south near Aousserd, away from Tifariti. We believe past USG counsel to all parties that they avoid any provocation or falling victim to one has been correct and should continue. End comment. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** Riley