Rabat – Algeria’s regime has responded to the US statement reaffirming its support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
In a statement today, the Algerian Foreign Affairs Ministry lamented Washington’s endorsement of the position that the Moroccan Autonomy Plan is the only realistic path to resolving the Sahara dispute.
“Algeria has taken note of the reaffirmation by the U.S. The Department of State views the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the only solution to the Western Sahara conflict,” the statement said.
A staunch and primary supporter of Polisario, Algeria said it “regrets the confirmation of this position by a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, from whom respect for international legality in general and Security Council resolutions in particular is expected.”
The remarks are not surprising given Algeria’s well-documented hostility towards Morocco’s territorial integrity. The North African country continues to support Polisario’s separatist claims over Western Sahara, harboring the separatist group on Algerian soil and sponsoring its military and diplomatic maneuvers against Morocco’s sovereignty on the Sahara.
This Algerian response confirms observers’ assessment that the State Department’s emphatic embrace of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan constitutes yet another blow for Algeria and its separatist proxy in the Sahara dossier.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Tuesday with Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita. He conveyed Washington’s unchanged position vis-à-vis the Sahara dispute, pledging to further cement the long-standing bilateral relations between Morocco and the US.
“The Secretary reiterated that the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic Autonomy Proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute,” the State Department wrote.
Rubio doubled down on the US support, noting that Trump has urged all parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s Autonomy initiative as “the only framework to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.” The US is determined to facilitate the negotiations toward this aim, Secretary Rubio stressed.
In its response to America’s renewed support for Morocco’s territorial integrity , the Algerian regime claimed that the Sahara dispute is an “unfinished decolonization process and an unfulfilled right to self-determination,” claiming that the separatist ground continues to “hold the right to self-determination.”
The US’ latest statement on the Sahara shut down Algeria’s denial on the Sahara dispute as it has been maneuvering to convince the Biden administration to backtrack on Washington’s newfound embrace of the autonomy plan as the best way out of he long-standing Western Sahara stalemate.
Since the US first announced its unequivocal support for Morocco’s territorial integrity in December 2020, the Algerian regime has unrelentingly lobbied to reverse the decision.
In addition to its denial, Algeria’s regime continues to block the UN-led political process, rejecting its role as one of the main parties to the dispute.
