Sun 25 August 2019:
Moroccan officials have accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of giving support to the Polisario Front, which seeks the creation of an independent state in Western Sahara, Al-Quds Al-Arabyreported yesterday.
The officials referred to the airtime given to Polisario leader Ibrahim Ghali, who appeared on US TV Channel Al-Horra, which is based in the UAE.
According to Al-Quds Al-Araby, Morocco believes that the UAE is punishing Morocco for its refusal to accept the UAE and Saudi boycott of Qatar, which has been ongoing since 2017.
Moroccan news website Adar reported the Moroccan officials as saying that the UAE thinks it is able to blackmail the country by supporting the Polisario Front with money and oil.
During the interview with Al-Horra, which was aired on Wednesday, Ghali said that his front might go back to armed struggle. “Western Saharans do not threaten to start a new war and they do not want war, but they would start a war if they were pushed into it in order to guarantee their rights,” he said.
He added: “We do not want war because we lived through it and it cost us a lot of sacrifices. But it war became an obligatory passage that we must pass through to get our self-determination, we would pass.”
Ghali also accused Morocco of disrespecting the international community, claiming it is turning a blind eye to the issue of Western Sahara.
“Western Saharan youths are more courageous today and more ready to fight because they got bored with waiting to be handed their rights,” Ghali said.
He rejected the Moroccan proposal for autonomy “because we are not Moroccans, we are Western Saharans.”
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