In Morocco's absence, the internationally recognized Libyan government of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba, based in Tripoli, organized a meeting of military intelligence chiefs from «Libya's neighboring countries». The Algerian delegation, led by General Mahrez Djeribi, in office since March 2023, used this forum to defend the Polisario. Relegating the main theme of the meeting—the Libyan crisis—to the background, the general condemned «Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara», according to a Polisario-affiliated media outlet on Monday. «The question of Western Sahara, Africa's last colony, reminds us of the evils of occupation and colonialism. The failure to resolve this conflict is hampering the establishment of security in the region due to Morocco's violation of the ceasefire agreement with the Polisario Front. What is happening in occupied Western Sahara is the result of expansionist ambitions supported by external actors, which increases the seriousness of the threats to the region», he declared in an address. In addition to defending the Polisario, the Tripoli meeting also allowed Algeria to revive its decade-old «Libya's neighbors» strategy. This strategy was initially launched to undermine the inter-Libyan dialogue in Morocco, which had led to the signing of the Skhirate Agreement on December 17, 2015. The meeting, sponsored by the government of Prime Minister Dabaiba, who is close to Algeria, comes a day after the Bouznika consultative meeting between representatives of the Libyan Parliament based in Tobruk (east of the country), recognized by the international community, and the High Council of State, based in Tripoli (west).
