Rabat — US Under Secretary Lisa Kenna has reconveyed her country’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces during a meeting with UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura.
The meeting came after de Mistura’s regional trip, during which he discussed the Western Sahara dispute with the main parties before briefing the Security Council on the developments surrounding the conflict.
“Met with UN Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura to consult on his valuable and ongoing contributions to advancing peace in the Western Sahara,” Kenna said, recalling Secretary Marco Rubio’s meeting with Nasser Bourita to reaffirm the US position that genuine autonomy under Morocco’s sovereignty is the only feasible solution.
During the meeting with Bourita, Rubio stressed the US position, noting that autonomy is the only framework to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.
The US top diplomat also highlighted the US’ interest in contributing to facilitating progress towards this aim.
In her X remarks, Kenna reiterated that the US believes that all parties must come to the table “now to negotiate a mutually acceptable result.”
Although the statement does not explicitly reference Algeria’s regime, the remarks appear to be a direct message to the Algerian government, which continues to reject its responsibility in the dispute.
Algeria’s regime views its mandate as assessing or observing the dispute, claiming that the conflict should be tackled by the Polisario and Morocco.
UN Security Council resolutions, however, have shut down Algeria’s regime’s intentions and maneuvers, urging it to engage in the UN-led political process and contribute to finding a mutually acceptable political solution to end the dispute.
UN Security Council Resolution 2756 from October 2024 confirmed Algeria’s growing isolation and failure to achieve its aggressive diplomatic objectives, rejecting Algeria’s attempt to shirk its responsibility on the Sahara dispute.
Algeria’s regime, which hosts, finances, arms, and supports the Polisari Front’s independence claims, repeated its observer duty claims during de Mistura’s meeting earlier this month.
The same attempts were documented in the UN Secretary General’s report on Western Sahara last year in October, where Antonio Guterres acknowledged that the Algerian regime focuses on “ensuring Western Sahara’s people the right to self-determination.”
Holding Algeria accountable
Abdelfattah E l Fatihi, a political analyst and director of the Sahara and Africa Strategic Studies Center, stressed to Morocco World News (MWN) that the statement by the US Secretary of State, inviting Algeria and the Polisario to sit at the negotiating table, places the supporters of the separatist agenda in a tight corner.
“It holds them accountable for threatening regional and international peace and security by continuing to support aggression against Morocco’s territorial integrity through military operations in the Sahara,” he told MWN.
The analyst emphasized that this statement confirms that the US recognition is a stable decision, marking the culmination of a solid historical trajectory of Moroccan-American ties and Morocco’s credibility as a reliable partner.
El Fatihi believes that the US’ position could be influential in pushing many other countries to follow in Washington’s path.
“I believe that the renewal of US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara will accelerate the resolution of the fabricated conflict and hasten an imminent British recognition, following the lead of other permanent members of the Security Council,” he told MWN.
British MPs have long been urging their government to follow in the momentum of international support for Morocco’s Sahara position.
David Lammym, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, emphasized that there is an ongoing discussion with Morocco’s government on this matter.
“This is a complex issue. The position remains the position we had under the last government. Of course, we keep that under review as we continue to discuss these issues in the region,” he said in a recent parliament session.
Similar statements show a potential change in the UK government’s traditional position regarding the dispute.
This was also evident when the British government announced that UK businesses are free to operate in Morocco’s southern provinces in Western Sahara.
