POLISARIO ASKS U.S. TO RESPOND TO MOROCCAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 001063

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019
TAGS: PREL PBTS MARR PTER AG MO UN
SUBJECT: POLISARIO ASKS U.S. TO RESPOND TO MOROCCAN
PROVOCATIONS

REF: ALGIERS 1041

Classified By: CDA, a.i., William Jordan; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: DCM and Poloff travelled on November 21 to
Tindouf, Algeria, to meet with senior Polisario Front leaders
to discuss the future of UN-led mediation efforts on the
Western Sahara conflict and to observe the conditions of life
in the Sahrawi refugee camps. Polisario officials reiterated
criticism (per reftel) of the Moroccan government's toughened
stance on the Western Sahara conflict and its treatment of
Sahrawi activists and requested the international community
to respond. Sahrawi leaders cautioned that Moroccan actions
could complicate future negotiations between the parties
mediated by UNSYG Personal Envoy Christopher Ross. A cable
on meetings with NGOs working with refugees and impressions
of current camp conditions will follow septel. End Summary.

Polisario Accuses Morocco of Undermining UN Efforts
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2. (C) DCM and Poloff made a daylong visit to Tindouf on
November 21 to confer with UN officials and tour nearby
Sahrawi refugee camps. With many senior Polisario officials
(including SecGen Abdelaziz) away at a conference in
Barcelona, we had not expected a serious, substantive program
of meetings. That proved far from the case, as DCM and
poloff were taken to the Polisario "presidency" shortly after
finishing their UN meetings. The apparent intent was to echo
or expand upon what we heard from the Polisario's
"ambassador" in Algiers a few days earlier per reftel.
Polisario "Prime Minister" Abdelkader Taleb Omar led off by
telling the DCM that UN-led negotiations needed to take place
in an atmosphere of calm and trust, but King Mohammed VI had
escalated the dispute and was undermining efforts to achieve
a peaceful solution. Omar continued by saying that the UN
Security Council called for progress on human aspects of the
conflict, but the King's speech calling for the punishment of
traitors, Morocco's arrest
of activists who had visited Tindouf, and its deportation of
the Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar ran counter to that
spirit. Omar cited reports by several international human
rights organizations pointing to restrictions on personal
expression in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Taleb Omar
said Polisario has refrained from taking a public position on
Morocco's actions but that it is under great pressure from
its supporters to do so.

Sahrawi Leaders Reiterate the Need for a "Democratic" Solution
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3. (C) Bachir Mustafa, a member of the Polisario's National
Secretariat's Political Branch, stated that, since the 1991
ceasefire, the Polisario has put its faith in the UN and has
hoped to find a peaceful solution by which neither party
feels defeated. He said that a "democratic solution" would
strengthen the credibility of the UN, weaken extremism, and
help cultivate a democratic culture in North Africa in
accordance, he said, with U.S. goals. Mustafa referred to
Morocco as a "big brother" in the region with its own
interests, which the Polisario does not wish to harm. He
went on to pledge Polisario's cooperation with regional
actors in the area of counterterrorism.

Seeking International Pressure on Morocco
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4. (C) Omar and Mustafa both called for the U.S. and UN to
pressure Morocco to release the seven Sahrawi activists it
arrested in October, to encourage a solution to the conflict
based on "international legality," and to provide guidelines
for future negotiations. Sahrawi "President" Abdelaziz's
diplomatic adviser Radi Bachir warned that unless Morocco
addresses the cases of the arrested and deported Sahrawi
activists, as the Polisario requested from the UN Secretary
General this month, the talks will experience major
complications. Mustafa called the Moroccan actions a
provocation and said that although Morocco claims that the
dispute is a threat to its stability, Polisario had an
interest in maintaining Moroccan stability. Referring to the
Polisario's call for a popular referendum on the territory,
Mustafa questioned why Morocco could not reconcile stability
with democracy. Omar asserted that Morocco's recent
provocative actions were based on a misinterpretation of the
U.S. Secretary of State's recent statement about the Moroccan
autonomy plan. He claimed that Morocco is closer to
destabilizing the region than solving the conflict.


5. (C) DCM replied that the U.S. continues to believe, as
NEA A/S Feltman stated publicly during his recent visit to
Algiers, that the USG believes that a peaceful, sustainable,

and mutually agreed solution can best be reached through the
UN-led process. The Secretary in Marrakech had intended to
reaffirm our view that the Moroccan proposal was a serious
and credible option for the parties to consider along with
other proposals submitted to Ambassador Ross. The DCM
reminded the Polisario representatives of the positive basis
on which the informal negotiations began and said that the
U.S. is awaiting guidance from UN Personal Envoy Christopher
Ross on how the international community should continue to
show support for his efforts. He urged the Polisario
leadership to take the rhetorical high road and avoid
provocative statements against Morocco that could be
construed as threats to continuing the diplomatic process,
noting that further escalation of the war of words would only
further undermine the UN envoy's mission. DCM assured the
Polisario that U.S. officials are privately voicing similar
requests to the Moroccan government to show rhetorical
restraint and warning of the grave risk that actions such as
those taken against Aminatou Haidar have for the UN-led
process.

Comment
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6. (C) The treatment of human rights activists is clearly a
red line for Polisario. Its leadership repeated that
Polisario is close to demanding the release of the activists
who visited Tindouf as well as the repatriation of Aminatou
Haidar as preconditions for resuming the Ross-led process.
Our discussions in Tindouf may have partially assuaged
Polisario concerns that the Polisario message was not
registering in Washington and helped set the record straight
about strong perceptions in Tindouf and Algiers that the
Secretary's remarks in Marrakech constituted a strong tilt in
favor of Morocco's autonomy plan as the basis of a solution
to the Western Sahara dispute. In any case, Polisario told
us that, pending a final decision on what to do in the face
of recent Moroccan actions and statements, it intends to go
ahead with tentative plans to meet Ross informally in NYC in
December.
JORDAN