The Polisario Front soldiers drive a pick-up truck mounted with an anti-aircraft weapon during sunset in Bir Lahlou, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

i24 News – i24 News hosted a debate between Moroccan and Sahrawi representatives on a range of developments concerning Algiers and Rabat, including Israel relations and the Western Sahara.

Attalib Ali Salem, a Sahrawi political activist, criticized Morocco’s government, arguing the country is contradicting itself by claiming there is no war in the Sahara, while also claiming it is defending itself.

“There is both a recognition and a non-recognition of this war in the Western Sahara,” Salem said.

He questioned Morocco’s normalization agreement with Israel, a US-brokered deal signed following the 2020 Abraham Accords, in which the US agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

“If Morocco has a legitimate right to the Sahara, then what is the purpose of all these normalization agreements with the Israeli entity?” Salem asked.

Said Affassi, an i24 News journalist, argued, “Morocco is not turning to military means against the Polisario Front,” referring to the name of the Western Sahara’s nationalist movement.

“Algeria supports the Polisario Front and is using it to try to blow up the whole border area,” the journalist said.

“I think all Moroccans are prepared to bear arms in order to eradicate the Polisario Front, wherever it may be. Even if it has found shelter in the very heart of Algeria, because it is a threat to Moroccan security.”

“Going back to the agreements, is it not Morocco’s right to strike agreements with countries which can help promote its political, economic, and commercial interests?” he said, pointing out that Algeria is developing its own ties with Russia, Hezbollah, and Iran.