The Polisario is bringing up again the threat to take up arms against Morocco as a means of pressure on the Security Council which is about to vote a new resolution on the Sahara. Yet, this threat, obviously dictated by the Algerian rulers, may have a reverse effect.
According to informed sources in the Tindouf camps, the Polisario has neither the military nor the logistical means to risk a provocative attempt against the powerful Moroccan army.
Therefore, the threats whispered by the Algerian generals may have exactly the opposite effect, as they will make everybody realize, if need be, that Algeria is the genuine instigator of the conflict and that it is Algeria which refuses a settlement of the Sahara conflict, the sources said.
Moreover, Algeria’s military and diplomatic support to the separatist front, an open secret, has just been re-confirmed by Chakib Khalil, former chairman of the Algerian oil company Sonatrach. The former boss of the real slush fund of Algerian rulers told a TV channel how he ended the payment of approximately $90 million per year to Mauritania.
Chakib Khalil claims to have made this decision right after President Bouteflika appointed him head of Sonatrach in 1999. According to him, the yearly payment to Mauritania had been decided by Houari Boumediene in the 70s.
The practice was commonly used by the Algerian Government as a bribe to buy the support of some African regimes and other dignitaries in Latin America to the Polisario. This without mentioning the lobbying operations Algeria has been paying for since the 70s in the United States and Europe.
