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Rabat – The UN Secretary General’s new report on Western Sahara comes as a new blow to Algeria, which has been increasingly attempting to evade its responsibility as a main party to the dispute.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres submitted his report on the situation in Western Sahara to the Security Council on October 3.
In the report, which Morocco World News obtained a copy of, the UNSG informed the international community that no solution could work to solve the dispute without the involvement of “all concerned parties.”
Despite the challenging context surrounding the dispute, Guterres remains positive that a solution to the dispute is possible.
But this solution will be only possible “provided that all concerned [parties] engage in a good faith and there is continued support from the international community.” This new language carries a tacit yet clear message to Algeria and the Polisario Front. Ever since the onset of the political process in 2007, they have made no credible effort or shown any good faith to engage constructively in the political process.
The UN chief’s statement disputes Algeria’s claims and continued reluctance to engage in the UN-led political process to help the supranational organization in the search for an agreed upon and mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara dispute.
Algerian denials
Algeria claims to be merely an observer to the dispute and continues to refuse to take part in UN-sponsored roundtables. In September, Algeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a communique on the recent visit of UN Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura to Algiers, claiming that the talks between the two diplomats were about the “prospect of consolidating the efforts of the UN for a resumption of direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict.”
The Algerian communique echoed Algeria’s long-standing approach of denying its historical involvement in the Sahara dispute, claiming that any solution should be discussed between the Polisario Front and Morocco.
The statement further stressed Algeria’s refusal to engage in any potential, UN-moderated roundtables involving the four main parties to the Sahara dispute: Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Polisario.
The UN chief report appears to be a response to Algeria’s reluctance to shoulder its primary responsibility in the creation and prolongation of the conflict. It is no secret that, for 45 years, Algeria has provided financial, military, diplomatic, and political support to the Polisario. Algeria’s status as a full-fledged party to the dispute was on display earlier this year when it recalled its ambassador for consultations following Spain’s decision in March to endorse Morocco’s autonomy plan as the most serious and credible basis for achieving a mutually acceptable solution.
A clear message
Samir Bennis, foreign policy analyst and co-founder of Morocco World News commented on the UNSG’s recent report, emphasizing that it is a clear message to Algeria and Polisario “where he [Guteress] tells them that they can no longer use any preconditions for the resumption of negotiations.”
The analyst also emphasized that Guterres highlighted that Polisario and Algeria can no longer use or cite old security resolutions, such as Resolution 690 of 1991 as the basis on which parties should build their negotiations.
“Rather, he urges due consideration to the changes and precedents set by his previous personal envoys, which is reflected in the language that the Security Council has used in the outset of the political process in 2007,” the analyst argued. According to Bennis, what confirms the UN’s current approach is the fact that Guterres has emphasized, like in previous reports, that resolutions 2440 (2018), 2468 (2019), 2494 (2019), 2548 (2020) and 2602 (2021) are the political framework within which “all concerned parties” should work to achieve a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution.
According to Bennis, the other noteworthy change in the language of the SG’s report is the use of the phrase “all concerned parties” as opposed to the “parties” which was the term usually used in previous reports. “The use of this phrase is a clear indication that the UN considers Algeria a full-fledged party to the conflict. “
Algeria-Morocco tensions
The UNSG report also recalled concerns about the diplomatic rift between Morocco and Algeria, emphasizing that this would significantly impact the UN-led political process.
In August 2021, Algeria decided to cut diplomatic ties with Morocco, after it accused its western neighbor of causing a series of wildfires in the Kabylia region.
Amid a series of wildfires occurring around the Mediterranean, including in Europe and Morocco, a statement from Rabat denied the “fallacious allegations” and expressed regret over Algeria’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Rabat.
The UNSG renewed his concerns about the lingering tensions between the neighboring countries, encouraging the two countries to re-establish dialogue” towards the mending of their relations.”
Morocco launched a series of dialogue initiatives, calling on Algeria to engage in a direct and frank dialogue.
One of the latest initiatives came in July, when King Mohammed VI dedicated a section of a royal address to emphasizing that Morocco is ready to normalize relations with its eastern neighbor.
Morocco’s monarch expressed his concerns about the situation, emphasizing that the closure of borders will never be “barriers preventing Moroccans and Algerians’ interaction and understanding.”
“We assure the Moroccan people of our firm will to find a way out of the current situation and to promote rapprochement, communication, and understanding,” between Algerians and Morocco, the monarch said.
