According to informed sources in Tindouf, the Polisario is seriously worried amidst mounting doubts that Algeria’s support to the separatist front is no longer as staunch as it was in the past, especially after the recent setbacks suffered by the separatists in Africa and at the international level.
The latest sign of the Algerian support erosion is mirrored in the decision of the organizers of the China-Africa Summit in Johannesburg to dismiss the Polisario of the list of participants.
Beijing has insisted that only internationally recognized African States be invited to participate in the 2015 edition of the China-Africa Forum (FOCAC.) And of course, the “Republic” of Western Sahara, proclaimed by the Polisario and its Algerian mentors, does not meet the participation criteria.
Morocco is represented in Johannesburg by a strong delegation led by the Head of Government, Abdelilah Benkirane.
The Polisario was dealt another blow last week in Luanda, Angola, by the Socialist International which declined to include in its Final Declaration the separatists’ proposed amendments.
These successive failures are all the more painful for the Polisario and its leadership as they came just few weeks after the debacle suffered in India.
In the wake of the renewed activism of the Moroccan diplomacy, Algeria actually failed to impose the Polisario participation in the India-Africa Summit held in New Delhi in October.
In view of this series of setbacks, the same sources from Tindouf said that the time when Algeria imposed the presence of Polisario representatives at all and every meeting held in Africa may be over.
According to the same sources, the Polisario is fearing a greater diplomatic isolation as Morocco is striking back and returning to the forefront of the diplomatic scene in Africa.
This prospect is all the more predictable as over the past recent years, Morocco has skillfully consolidated its ties with many countries in Africa, triggering a new momentum whose results are now tangible on the ground.
