{"text":[[{"start":7.48,"text":"UN peacekeepers are wrapping up a 35-year mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara after the Security Council failed to renew their mandate, in a development that analysts warned could lead to open conflict between Morocco and Algeria."}],[{"start":22.9,"text":"The mission’s mandate expired on Sunday after the Security Council hit a deadlock on Friday when both the US and Russia presented competing resolutions, neither of which was adopted."}],[{"start":34.86,"text":"Russia vetoed a US proposal that would have ended any possibility of the UN mission organising a long-stalled referendum on Western Sahara’s self-determination, in effect handing sovereignty to Morocco which already controls much of the territory. Russia’s resolution to extend the current mission’s mandate by another year failed to get enough votes."}],[{"start":55.44,"text":"Western Sahara is claimed by the kingdom, which already controls most of it, but Algeria hosts and backs the Polisario Front, a group fighting for independence for the territory."}],[{"start":64.96,"text":"“We are now in uncharted territory,” said Riccardo Fabiani, north Africa director at the International Crisis Group, who said the withdrawal of peacekeepers from a UN-designated buffer zone meant that a miscalculation by either side could more easily ignite a broader conflict."}],[{"start":80.72,"text":"“There may be a military incident, or a Moroccan decision to take over the buffer zone because they don’t think Algeria will respond,” he said. “Then all of a sudden there is an impossible situation where the other side has to respond, and accidentally by mistake you’re on an escalatory ladder.”"}],[{"start":96.92,"text":"Morocco and Algeria, which broke off ties in 2021, are arch-foes — Western Sahara has long been a central focus of their enmity. Both have been building their military capabilities, with Algeria ranked Africa’s biggest military spender and Morocco acquiring advanced equipment from the US, Israel and France."}],[{"start":115.08,"text":"“They both feel like they have to catch up with each other, and the military spending is through the roof,” said Fabiani."}],[{"start":121.64,"text":"A spokesperson for UN secretary-general António Guterres said on Sunday that the peacekeepers’ departure did not abrogate the local Sahrawi population’s right to self-determination. Guterres, the spokesperson added, was concerned about “the risk of escalation of hostilities”."}],[{"start":138.04,"text":"Oubi Bouchraya Bachir, an adviser to Polisario leader Brahim Ghali, said the Front would continue fighting for Sahrawi self-determination diplomatically and militarily but that it would “show self-restraint in the field” to allow for a political solution."}],[{"start":154.04,"text":"He warned that the peacekeepers’ departure placed the region on “a dangerous slope that could lead to catastrophe”."}],[{"start":161.76,"text":"Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said his country would abide by a ceasefire and welcomed the end of the UN mission."}],[{"start":168.08,"text":"Its demise was a “gift from the sky,” said Moroccan lawmaker Lahcen Haddad. “There will be no more pressure from the Security Council, from the United Nations.”"}],[{"start":177.8,"text":"Haddad said he expected Morocco to “go ahead and implement” its longstanding proposal to devolve powers to the region without the involvement of the UN. “I think the Polisario now is out of the game, and Algeria is out of the game as far as many Moroccans are concerned,” he said."}],[{"start":198.62,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793691493_5878.mp3"}