International experts in the strategic and defense issues agreed that the Sahara independence "is not a realistic and less practical option ", citing the facts "which show evidence of the involvement of Polisario elements in the ranks of terrorist groups in the region, and operations of kidnapping and trafficking of all kinds".

"There is evidence of the involvement of Polisario elements in these scourges that plague the region, facts are corroborated by multiple sources," said to MAP Laurence Aida Ammour, associate researcher at the Institute of political Studies of Bordeaux and international security consultant, who took part Monday in a conference at McDaniel College, in the City of Westminster (Maryland) on the theme: "Political Change and Security in North Africa" in collaboration with the Research Center, the Navy Analysis center (NAC).

In October 2011, the kidnapping of two Spanish and one Italian aid workers in the heart of the Rabouni camp, constituted "clear proof of the involvement of Polisario with terrorist groups, especially as Tindouf camps were supposed to be under close supervision by separatist militias and the Algerian army," noted Ms. Ammour.

In this context, she criticized "internal complicity without which such an operation could not take place," pointing out that abduction pushed "the Spanish authorities to proceed with the closure of several offices of Polisario in Spain, while the Algerian government responded by demanding resignations within the Polisario leadership and setting up more checkpoints around the camps. "

Laurence Aida Ammour noted that the deterioration of the humanitarian situation and human rights in the Tindouf camps, as well as the latest developments in the Sahel region and Mali caused a growing awareness of the need to find a lasting solution to the Sahara issue that takes into account security requirements, noting that there are voices in Washington calling for the closure of Tindouf camps, become the soft underbelly of any anti-terrorist strategy.

In this vein, she criticized the fixed position of Algeria "necessarily untenable" by attributing this deadlock to the psycho rigidity the Algerian authorities which do not want to free themselves from dogma and political culture dating from the cold War. "North Africa and the Sahel are not the same as they were in the 70 or 60," she explained in this context.

All these facts come to one conclusion: the independence of the Sahara "is not a realistic and less practical option," said Fernando Reinares, Professor of Political Science and Security Studies at the University King Juan Carlos and leading researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano in Madrid.

  "This is an option that is not in the interest of Sahrawis, the region and the international community," he said.

This international expert noted the existence of people in the Tindouf camps, under Polisario control, who become radicalized and join the ranks of extremist groups taking part in kidnapping operations as well as drug and weapons trafficking. "

"A large autonomy in the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is a solution that is more than acceptable in my view," said Fernando Reinares, speaking in a statement to MAP.

The Sahara conflict called "Western Sahara issue" is an artificial conflict imposed by Algeria to Morocco. Polisario, a separatist movement supported by the Algerian government, claims the creation of an artificial state in the Maghreb. This blocks all efforts of the international community for a solution to the conflict based on autonomy within a Moroccan sovereignty, economic integration and regional security.

- News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas -