On the evening of Tuesday, November 10, the Polisario’s “National Secretariat” held an emergency meeting chaired by Brahim Ghali. At its conclusion, it proclaimed “general mobilization,” according to a statement published by the movement’s news agency, SPS. The stated reason: Morocco’s “military activities deemed dangerous” “along the wall” and “in disputed areas.”
The statement goes no further. It specifies neither where nor when these activities supposedly took place, nor which units were involved. It announces no concrete measures beyond calling on the inhabitants of the Tindouf camps to “remain ready.” It urges the UN and the African Union to “assume their responsibilities” and warns of a “possible escalation.”
This “mobilization” changes nothing on the ground. The Polisario had already declared the ceasefire null and void in November 2020, following the Guerguerat operation. Morocco, for its part, has not budged. On October 30, following the Security Council vote, the Royal Office reiterated that the Kingdom “remains firmly committed to the ceasefire.”
The timing, however, speaks volumes. The announcement came on the day the UN General Assembly debated the veto that brought MINURSO to an end, a meeting that chiefly exposed the isolation of Algiers and its allies. It came ten days after the mission’s mandate expired, with the Secretary-General having initiated its liquidation on November 1. And it came three days before the sixth anniversary of Guerguerat. When diplomacy fails, posturing is all that remains.
The statement makes no mention of Algeria. But it was the Algerian press that gave it an audience. Echorouk, Ennahar and a string of pro-government websites picked it up within hours, often under identical headlines. Outside Algeria, it attracted little attention.
The Polisario has neither the means nor the independence to wage a war. It depends entirely on its patron, which hosts it in Tindouf, arms it, finances it and speaks on its behalf in New York. A militia that decides nothing mobilizes no one: it merely recites its lines. Its “general mobilization” is not a battle order but yet another press release, written for Algiers and read by its newspapers. As MINURSO disappears and autonomy establishes itself as the solution at the United Nations, the Algerian regime has run out of arguments, so it makes its own creation speak. The clamor of press releases serves to drown out the silence of diplomatic defeat.
