Bir Mogrein border

[Luis]

I’ve tried last 1st February to pass across the Bir Mogrein – Galtat Zemmour border, unsuccessfully… We were three bikers, coming from Zouerat to Bir Mogrein and here no problems at all with the Mauritanian police / military. They stamped our passports but advised us that a sarahaui control post was established last year somewhere in the ‘no men land’ after Mauritania. In fact 4 kms after pass the border line indicated in Mapsource, five or six armed soldiers have cutted the track, together with a Toyota equipped with a heavy shotgun. We stopped immediately (off course…) and the chief asked ‘what are you doing in a closed track like this one?’. We answered that we are trying to cross to Layounne or Smara, and we’ve successfully passed through the Mauritanian border. He was quite polite but insisted that we are passing through a forbidden track and we have to wait for a decision from their ‘Military Region’, and probably we need to go there to be interrogated. The headquarters seems to be somewhere in the Western Sahara 200 kms far away from this control. He also said that they are protecting us because if we proceed that track after 40 kms we will find a Morocco military post and they will kill us with no mercy... He confirmed that they belong to Polisario.

After some hours waiting from the referred decision, we asked them what is happening and why can not we proceed with our trip, and the chief answered that probably the 'Region' decision won’t arrive that day and we will need to pass the night there. We said that in that case we will return to Bir, but he replied that they won't allow us to do that. He continued very polite but also very intransigent about give us freedom to go anywhere. The conversation continued, we have even talked about giving them some ‘contribution’ to pass to Layounne, but all our efforts were not accepted by them. In the end of the afternoon, they allow us finally to return to Bir. I’ve tried again to negotiate a pass to Layounne but the answer was clear: ‘do you want to return to Bir or stay here for a couple of days?’ Clear enough to make us take the track back to Bir and make 2000 kms more to reach Layounne form the Guerguerat border.

Well, I believe that a solution could be found… guess what.

In Bir Mogrein we have talked with a graduate military, and he said that they are aware of Polisario control but they are not thinking about to do anything regarding this subject. ‘They are out of our country’, he said. Informed us also that last month a guide was killed and a traveller seriously hounded by a mine in that track, only because they go out the track for some centimetres…




[This message has been edited by Luis (edited 19 February 2006).]