THE Saharawi independence movement accused the United Nations today of being partly to blame for a worsening of the conflict in Western Sahara.

Polisario Front spokesman Khatri Adouh said that Morocco had been allowed to break a long-standing ceasefire and continue to occupy whole swathes of the territory with impunity.

“Morocco could not have done what it did without the support of the international community, the support of the UN, the security council and the UN secretary-general,” he said.

The situation deteriorated last November following a Moroccan incursion into the demilitarised Guerguerat region to open a road linking it to neighbouring Mauritania.

The Polisario Front’s calls for sanctions against Rabat were ignored and tensions rose further when the United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the occupied territory in exchange for Morocco normalising relations with Israel.

The US opened a consulate in Western Sahara earlier this year, declaring it a “historic milestone” in its relationship with Morocco.

“Morocco is, of course, responsible for its actions; it is the UN that bears great responsibility for Morocco’s actions,” Mr Adouh said.

According to the independence movement’s French lawyer Gilles Devers, Moroccan exports from the occupied territory amount to a “looting of its natural resources,” notably agricultural goods, phosphates and fish.

He was speaking ahead of a two-day session of the European Court of Justice, beginning tomorrow, to discuss EU-Morocco accords allowing the export of goods from Western Sahara.

In 2016, the Polisario Front won a ruling by the court stating that EU-Morocco trade deals should not extend to the occupied territory, but the decision was overruled by a European Parliament vote in 2019.

That year, Morocco exported €434 million (£375m) worth of fish, tomatoes and melons from Western Sahara to Europe, according to the European Commission.

Mr Devers said the independence movement was partly waging an “economic fight” to defend the territory’s interests, and that its exposure to the European market was being used “to prolong [Moroccan] colonisation.”