While Morocco has been bogged down over the past fifty years in a larval conflict with Algeria in sovereignty over Western Sahara, the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita was received this Tuesday, April 8 by the influential US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
“The United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, and support the proposal for serious, credible and realistic autonomy of Morocco as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute”then said the spokesperson for the US State Department, Tammy Bruce, shortly after the interview. Marco Rubio also mentioned the situation in Palestine and praised the “Leadership of Morocco which contributes to a better future for the Israelis, the Palestinians and all the peoples of the region”.
80 % controlled by Morocco
This immense desert territory, which extends between Morocco and Algeria, is 80 % controlled by the Cherifian kingdom. The latter wishes to make Western Sahara an autonomous territory, placed under its sovereignty. But neighboring Algeria also covets this extent of sand. She supports an armed independence group, the Polisario Front, which has been fighting Moroccan forces for 50 years.
The unambiguous support of the United States in the Moroccan position did not fail to cause the fury of Algeria. This Wednesday, April 9, the government of Abdelmadjid Tebboune claimed to regret the “Confirmation of this position on the part of a permanent member of the Security Council, of which it is normally expected that it testifies to respect for international legality in general, and the resolutions of the Security Council (of the UN) in a particular way”.
Algiers calls on international bodies, and plays the decolonization card to gain their case. “Algeria reaffirms that the question of Western Sahara is a process of unfinished decolonization, and a right to self -determination inacted »»said Algerian diplomacy in its press release. Under Spanish control of 1886, in 1976, Western Sahara was today considered by the United Nations as a non-autonomous territory without administration, despite the Madrid 1975 agreements-where the Spaniards gave Morocco two-thirds of the desert.
Visit to Paris
Already at the end of 2020, Donald Trump had aroused a real shock wave by recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. A more topical position for the US head of state. “President Trump urges the parties to initiate discussions without delay, using Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only framework, in order to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution”said the White House spokeswoman.
After his stay in the United States, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs was expected next week in Paris. The UN will start to study the question of Western Sahara from April 14.
