Morocco threatens UN buffer zones in disputed Western Sahara

Morocco's government is threatening to take control of UN-monitored buffer zones in Western Sahara amid concerns that the mission is failing to keep out Polisario Front independence fighters.

The warning on Sunday came as UN Security Council members received Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on the situation in Western Sahara and the 27-year-old UN peacekeeping mission in the mineral-rich territory claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on Sunday that the Polisario recently moved members to the UN-controlled areas of Bir Lehlou and Tifariti. He also said Polisario members are again entering the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian border, despite a UN-brokered deal to leave after tensions erupted there in 2016.

"If the UN, its secretary-general and the Security Council are not ready to put an end to these provocations, Morocco will have to act out its responsibility and intervene in the buffer zones," Bourita told reporters after an emergency parliament session to address Western Sahara.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that members of the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, "have not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory."
Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said, "Morocco is ready to do everything to preserve its Sahara."
He called it an "informative letter" and said "no action has been taken yet."