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UN denies Morocco's accusations of Frente POLISARIO soldiers' presence in Guerguerat

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New York(United Nations), April  04, 2018 (SPS) - The United Nations denied Monday Morocco's accusations that the Frente POLISARIO had deployed soldiers in Guerguerat, stressing that the MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) has recorded no violation of the ceasefire in this buffing zone.
"Our colleagues in MINURSO have not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory. MINURSO continues to monitor the situation closely," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN secretary General said at his daily press briefing.
Dujarric made the statement in reply to a question on Morocco's accusations relating to alleged violations of the ceasefire by the Frente POLISARIO in the buffer zone, which is under the supervision of the United Nations.
Morocco, which seeks to spark a crisis on the eve of UN Security Council discussions on the extension of MINURSO's mandate, has sent a letter to the chairman of the Security Council on Monday, in which it has accused the Frente POLISARIO of sending armed elements in Guerguerat.
Morocco is behind the crisis in this sensitive area, on the border with Mauritania, as it tried in 2016 to impose the building of a road crossing the territories that are under Frente POLISARIO's control.
In a confidential memo sent to the Security Council in August 2016, the UN chief recognized there was a violation, by Morocco, of the first military agreement.
Since then, Rabat has been rejecting the dispatch of a UN technical mission to assess the situation on the ground and finds the appropriate ways to resolve the crisis.
The UN Secretary General called on Morocco to "reconsider this initiative so as the two parties to the conflict may embark on discussion, in good faith, over the issue." SPS
 
125/090/700