Top Polisario official's return to Morocco, strongest blow to separatists

The return to Morocco of Lahib Ayoub, a top Polisario official, is the strongest blow to the separatist group, says Maa Al-Ainin Mrabih Rabo, a member of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs.

Ayoub is an emblematic figure of the Polisario that is why his return to Morocco is a strong blow to the separatists, Mrabih Rabo, told Moroccan Al-Ahdat Al-Maghribya daily.

Lahbib Ayoub swore allegiance to King Mohammed VI on Monday at an audience at the Royal palace in Marrakesh. Ayoub was considered the chief strategist of the separatists' army. He served as commander of one of the major "military regions" of the "Polisario."

In statements to the press after the Royal audience, Ayoub denounced the blockade imposed by the Algerian intelligence services on the population sequestered in Tindouf. "The Algerian intelligence services besieged us, leaving to us no room to move and no possibility to take any decision whatsoever, he said.

"I returned to Morocco upon a deep conviction to renew the act of allegiance and of devotedness to my King, in line with the legacy of my predecessors," he said.

According to Mrabih Rabo, Ayoub is also very popular among the population in Tindouf (south-western Algeria, where the Polisario is based) and everywhere the separatists are represented, namely Spain and the Canary Islands.

The successive waves of Moroccan Sahrawis, be they ordinary citizens or military officers, who returned to Morocco, is evidence to the fallaciousness of the Polisario separatist thesis, added Mrabih Rabo.